Love and everything it entails
by TheSandGirl
Summary: Nine words that have changed her world. The survivors of the Second Wizarding War have their children leave for Hogwarts. New friendships, love, trials and adventures await them. Later on it'll be a RoseXScorpius FF and surprising couples will appear.
1. Of boys,girls and their parents

**Author's Notes:**

Hello! I'm an avid FF reader, **Harry Potter** being one of my favourites. I love reading about the next generation, but I have never read one about a possible future development of the characters in great detail. And I crave details, that is just how I am. The wonderful pieces I've read so far don't get updated much, thus I promise to make the impossible to complete these series.

This fanfiction is going to be a quite detailed narration of what happens to the Next Generation and their family starting with the first year of Albus & co. attending Hogwarts till the seventh one. There are going to be lots of narrative threads, romance, some drama, dealing with different issues both from the past and future, as well as a bit of humour here and there (I have a quite dry sense of humour, hopefully you'll like it).

This is the first fanfiction I've ever written, so please, if I have done any mistakes or you feel like you don't understand something point it out to me, I look for your guidance.

Thank you for your consideration! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter and I make no profit from this work of art. However, I do own the plot and some OCs.

* * *

**Love and everything it entails**

**Prologue. Of boys, girls and their parents**

A certain Rose Beatrice Weasley had always wondered whether her father's words were prophetic or he simply jinxed it by telling her to beat the unsuspicious Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy in every test. Those nine words had come to change her life, forever.

"_Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie." _

Having told her that, he had added something else, but Rose had never heard it, for she was too interested in finding out why she should do it. Being the stubborn and curious person she was, something she had inherited from her mother, the 11 years old decided to find out the reason behind her father's logic from the other person involved. Even if indirectly, the pale boy named after a constellation was still involved in the matter.

From the place where the family of Senior Unspeakable Draco Malfoy stood, all Rosie could see was a nervous boy, with beautiful eyes and kind features, holding his mother's gloves, whilst she perused her bag in search of something. It appeared to be a comb, which she put in the boy's robes. Afterwards, Mrs Malfoy bent down and kissed her son on his forehead and this definitely was not the right thing to do, for Scorpius gently pushed her away, the blood streaming into his pale cheeks, which made him look like one of those cherubs painted on Rubens' masterpieces.

As the little red-headed girl was observing his family, her cousin James kindly informed everybody of their other 'cousin', Teddy, kissing her aunt Fleur's beautiful daughter, Victoire. One would assume kissing your boyfriend is quite normal, but apparently James didn't find it that way. Well, he was a bit weird like that.

As the train signalled its departure from the King's Cross Station in about five minutes, they all started saying goodbye and Rose noticed her uncle Harry talking to his youngest son, Albus. She really understood Al's frustration with his brother James, when the latter would always tease him about being a future Slytherin. And she felt the same way about her father. What was wrong with being different? Victoire got into Ravenclaw and for the past six years she had enjoyed it quite a lot. And Molly, a third year, followed Tory's example. The two of them didn't get threatened by their fathers to be disinherited if they had not become Gryffindors, and yet, hers did just that. No comments there.

It seemed that whatever her uncle had told his son made him happier about his sorting at Hogwarts. So Rose turned her attention towards her mother and kissed her a one last time before getting on the train, followed by her cousin. After a funny comment from Ron Weasley about his fame, his daughter and nephew started waving goodbye to all of their relatives on the platform 9 ¾ , and there were lots of them.

There was George and Angelina Weasley and the ten year old Roxanne, wishing Fred an excellent second year at Hogwarts. Near them were standing the children's 'uncles' Lee and Seamus talking about pyrotechnics, instead of giving their farewells to their children. Whilst listening to their husbands, Natalie Jordan gave her son, Paul, an amused smile and Lisa Finnigan nee Turpin shook her head at their childishness and reminded Aodhan to stay clear from any trouble that would get him a detention, for a change. She was quite tired of the constant flow of notices from the school's staff informing her of Aodhan's misdemeanours.

Percy Weasley, who was still complaining about some kind of magical transport to a rather unfortunate co-worker, had his arm around his Audrey's waist, whilst she was excitedly waving goodbye to Molly with one hand, the other one resting on Lucille's shoulder. Lucy, that's what everybody called her, like the rest of Rose's younger siblings and cousins, was quite upset that she couldn't go to Hogwarts that year. If it was any consolation, she had to wait just another year in order to join the rest of her relatives at school. Young Hugo Francis Weasley and Lily Luna Potter weren't as lucky.

Also, on the platform could be seen Bill Weasley and his wife smiling towards Louis, his sisters, it seemed, had long since been in their respective compartments with their friends. Rose was quite sure Victoire could be found later talking to the Head Boy, a Slytherin called Thaddeus Valborg, preparing for their meeting with the prefects, her sister, Dominique, being one of them. The girl was rather excited when she received her letter containing her Prefect badge that summer at the Burrow. Victoire received her Head Girl one at Teddy's grandmother Andromeda's house, since she had been staying there for the weekend when they all received their letters from Hogwarts. Those beginning their first year were the happiest, as they would finally see Hogwarts, walk through its corridors, and feel the magic with every cell.

The train had started and a rather dishevelled Harry Potter was trying to keep up with its gaining speed. At last, he stopped and Rose could barely make out her aunt Ginny's figure approaching him. She turned her head towards Al and they smiled at each other. Their journey had begun!

* * *

I use British English, thus if you don't understand a term or expression, ask me and I will explain its meaning to you.

The prologue is quite short and merely consists of description, but the chapters to come are going to be longer and will contain description, narration, dialogue and bits of monologue. I've already written and revised about 14 chapters, so updating shouldn't be a problem. Cheers!


	2. Of boy meets duo

**Author's Notes:  
**  
Well, here is the first chapter of this FanFiction. I hope you enjoy reading it. I'm very flattered that my story has been put on alert by **lumierelanuit** and **JennyTodorova**. Thank you very much!

**Disclaimer**:I do not own Harry Potter and I make no profit from this work of art. However, I do own the plot and some OCs.

* * *

**Chapter 1. Of boy meets duo**

Little Rose took Al's hand as to not get separated in the chaos reigning outside the compartments and they started searching for an empty one. About ten minutes later they did find one and quickly went in and she slid the door shut after them. Or at least she had tried. Almost out of nowhere, a hand appeared between the door and the girl almost crushed it, fortunately she stopped just before doing that. Opening the door the hand proved to belong to a certain boy, who could've easily been the model for one of Rubens' masterpieces.

Gazing into Scorpius Malfoy's eyes from a much shorter distance, Rose had the advantage of studying them better, much better. They were like a fall of liquid silver, with specks of pale blue, just like crystal clear water.

'Gorgeous eyes,' she thought.

He had a very intense look, like he was trying to read what she was thinking through her eyes. The red-head and the blond one stared at each other for at least half a minute, when Al, uncomfortable with their gazing contest, made a sound which should've resembled a cough, but it did only in his imagination. However, it worked in diverting his cousin and the boy's attention.

"Hi! I'm Albus Potter. But call me Al. Did you want to join us in the compartment?"

"I'm Scorpius Malfoy. Nice to meet you… And yes, I would like to join you."

Although Rose could sense his uneasiness, Scorpius' voice was very soothing and she would bet on it becoming a bass as he grew up.

"Of course you can," answered the ever sweet Albus Potter. He'd always try to help everybody and Rose wished some of her cousins were a bit more like him. Then she remembered that she had yet to introduce herself. If her mother were to find out about this lack of common manners she would be really disappointed in her older child. Moreover, Rose was going to need young Malfoy's help in finding out about her father's issues with this boy's family.

"Hi! I'm Rose Weasley, Al's cousin. How do you do?"

"Hi," he replied. As they sat down, silence embraced them once again, in a rather uncomfortable way.

Rose being her parents' daughter and rather talkative, gathered her courage and asked her new acquaintance the most important question an 11 years old faces when going to Hogawarts: "So into what house do you think you will be sorted?"

"I'm not sure. I think I would like to be in either Ravenclaw or Slytherin. Almost everybody in my family from both sides has been in Slytherin. What about you two?"

Knowing that Al was still struggling with his choice of a specific house, she decided to answer first.

"Well, the same goes for my family, but with Gryffindor. I would also like to be in Ravenclaw if it were possible. I don't know if I could fit in with either Hufflepuff or Slytherin."

Hearing her answer, the surprised Al finally looked up from staring at the floor and had the same intense look Scorpius sported just minutes ago.

"Ravenclaw? Do you think Uncle Ron would be ok with it? He probably was joking about disinheriting you, but still you never know with him," he said with uncertainty. Yes, her father was quite spontaneous, just like most of the Weasleys.

"I don't think he'd do that. He was kidding. I mean mum would never let him, would she? I'd like to be in the same house as you, but I wouldn't mind joining Tory and Molly in Ravenclaw," his cousin answered. And seeing Scorpius' confused expression at the mention of their elder cousins' names, she quickly added "Tory is my cousin, Victoire, a Head Girl. She's the daughter of uncle Bill and aunt Fleur. And Molly, a third year, is the daughter of uncle Percy and aunt Audrey."

"I have got a cousin in the third year as well. Dione is in Slytherin," he said rather dejectedly, confirming that about everybody in his family was sorted into Salazar's house.

"I don't think that being in Slytherin is a bad thing, my dad almost got sorted in there," young Potter tried to reassure Scorpius. Although this information was meant to be a little secret between him and his father, the latter was aware of the boy's very close relationship with Rose. So, if he were to tell anybody it would be Rose, and, although relatively a new acquaintance, Scorpius was somebody Albus thought he could trust. At least that was what his intuition told him, and thus far it hadn't failed him.

"Really? Uncle Harry could've been in Slytherin? Wow, I had no idea," said Rose a bit astonished. "Either way, you don't have to worry, Al. Even if you do go there, it doesn't matter. We, your family, would always support you."

"Thank you, Rose. But, I don't think James shares your opinion," mumbled Al whilst admiring his shoes. And in situations like this one, did Rose wish she was able to stop James and his blabbering mouth from teasing his brother.

"Who is James? Another cousin? How many have you got?" asked Scorpius trying to change a bit the subject, which Rose found rather sweet. She hoped that if her cousin were to wear a green and silver tie with his uniform, Scorpius could be there with and for him.

"Well, he is my cousin, but he is Al's elder brother. He's got a younger sister as well. Lily is nine, just like my sibling, Hugo. I've got ten cousins, therefore Al's got nine. But we do have lots of family friends like the Longbottoms, Scamanders, Finnigans and Thomases. Those who are younger in the family are used to calling them 'uncles' and 'aunts' and their children – 'cousins'," answered the girl. She knew there were many others, but she didn't want to overwhelm him with too much information.

"Wow, I take it during Yule you visit a lot," said Scorpius rather impressed and the other two people in the compartment sensed the longing in his voice. "I have just three cousins: Aunt Daphne's Dione and Damon, who is also nine, and my cousin Theodore, but he insists on calling him Ted or Teddy. Great-aunt Andromeda doesn't really like it, so she calls him by his long name. I think she does that just to spite him," he added chuckling.

"Wait! Are you talking about our Teddy? Teddy Lupin? But he's like an elder brother for me. He's at Grimmauld Place, like, all the time!" said Al rather excited. Rose, as well, was shocked to find out that Teddy had a cousin they knew nothing about.

"Yes, I think it is the same Teddy. I knew he visited his godfather quite a lot, but I never dwelled much on who he was. And it's your father! Wow, what a coincidence!" exclaimed Scorpius.

"Yes, that is quite an incredible coincidence," Rose agreed, and yet she was thinking about the reason Teddy wouldn't tell them about something as important as the existence of a cousin, to whom he was related by blood and was of their age. She knew something wasn't right. So, in true Hermione Weasley style, her daughter couldn't wait to find out what exactly! And she just knew the right person to go to. Tory, her favourite cousin, would definitely know something about this. After all she was Teddy's girlfriend.

"Rose, what are you thinking about? I know this look; it means that you've got something on your mind which is troubling you. Is it about Teddy?" asked Al. "Do you find it odd that he hasn't told us about his blood-relatives? Is that it?"

Rose always knew that her cousin was rather insightful and observant, and with them being so close, he knew her better than anybody else. Well, almost anybody. Her mother had this quite scaring ability to know what she was thinking just by looking at her much beloved daughter. One would think she was using Legillimens. But no, she would never use it outside her job as the Head of DMLE, which she'd been assigned to in 2014. Actually, in the children's opinion it was quite funny – Rose's mum was practically her dad and uncle Harry's boss.

"Don't worry, Al. It's nothing. I will just talk about this with Victoire," she tried to ease his worrying nature.

"Actually, I would also like to hear this conversation. So when you do talk to her, let me accompany you," said Al, his voice conveying his obvious interest.

"Hmm, would you mind me being there with you as well? I know I'm a stranger to you, but it is concerning Teddy," said Scorpius and Rose could see that he was quite ill at ease.

'Perhaps he isn't used to asking people stuff? And why would he think of himself as a stranger?' she thought.

"You're not a stranger to us, Scorpius. You are most definitely an acquaintance. I do hope we could get to better know each other. And yes, the both of you could come with me and ask her about Teddy," she answered rather passionately. Her father told her to best him in tests; she didn't remember him mentioning anything about not being friends. And she would very much enjoy a friendly rivalry. Not unlike her mother, she always relished a challenge.

Just as the green eyed Potter wanted to confirm his cousin's opinion about better acquainted with the blond boy, the door to the compartment slid open and a beautiful girl with red tresses, smiling kindly towards her cousins, entered the compartment and sat near Rose. Dominique wondered who the other boy was, but she did have a supposition, and she was rather surprised to see him with her cousins.

"Hi! I thought I'd check on you. Aunt Ginny asked me to, anyway. I see you've already made a friend," said the fifth year student, and then looking towards Scorpius added, "I'm Dominique Weasley, their cousin. How do you do?"

"I'm Scorpius Malfoy. Nice to meet you," shyly replied the blond boy, not being used to interacting with strangers on a daily basis, especially with those who are older.

"So it is a Malfoy, huh?" muttered the one-eighth Veela under her breath. But as she sensed his discomfort, she smiled at the boy.

'Nobody has to pay for their family's deeds,' she reminded herself.

However, Rose did hear the girl's remark and decided that her cousin was aware of something related to both Scorpius' and her parents.

"What do you mean by that? Did you know that he's Teddy's cousin? Do you know something about this whole situation that we don't?" asked Rose.

"I take it James didn't tell you all about our parents' involvement in the war…"

* * *

Somewhere, in a Bed & Breakfast inn, near the Marble Arch station, in Central London, a couple kissed each other with ardour, their hands caressing the other's naked body. She would pull at the messy hair of her lover every single time when he would hit a sensitive spot while they mated again and again. They'd been indulging in the pleasure of sex for a couple of hours and still couldn't get enough of each other.

"Karin, let go," whispered the man, trying his hardest not to come before the woman in his arms.

His words were followed by Karin's violent release, and therefore, his. The woman was so exerted that she could barely breathe normally, and yet she continued kissing him, relishing this rare occasion to be with her favourite costumer. Karin was one of those 'ladies' who would lend special services using their body. In the Wizarding world there weren't many women with a profession like hers, but that was what made the business even more profitable.

Karin, a beautiful woman of 25, was a Squib from one of those families that didn't stand non-magical people, her included, so she didn't have much choice but find a less decent way of making ends meet and she was quite good at her 'job'. However, for some time now, she had been aching for more, which meant a family, stable house and everything it entailed. Over six months ago, when _he _came to the place where her and other 'easy ladies' were meeting their clients, she felt a weird pull towards him, and made sure to intercept him earlier than any other woman in the brothel. Once she found out who he actually was, Karin knew that she had found the perfect man with whom her dreams might become true. Him already having a family was of no relevance to her plans; she would just have to make him leave his wife and children, quite easy in her opinion.

"I have to go. There is a delegation from Germany arriving today and we, being aurors, have to supervise their staying here," said the man, kissing his lover's bare back for the last time and leaving the bed.

Karin turned her head to look at her dream-man and sighed. "You know where to find me, baby."

"As soon as I have some time off, I will come back. I hope you did get rid of the other clients?" the sentence ended up being a question, his uncertainty coming to surface. "I don't want anybody else touching you. I'm paying for anything you might need, so you'd better stay only in my bed," he added putting on his robes.

"Of course, darling! I'm all yours," replied the beauty, with an alluring smile. She put the silky sheets around herself and saw her beloved to the door of their room. "I will be waiting for you, Ron."

* * *

**Explanation of some things that might be confusing:**

**1. **I think that in cannon the children, who have not attended Hogwarts yet, are not aware of all the details concerning the Second Wizarding War. Why do I have this opinion? Well, according to the HP7, when Albus asked his father why everybody was staring at them, Ron joked that it was due to his fame. So I concluded that perhaps the children, although not ignorant of their family's history (Snape's involvevment, what instigated Dora, Remus and Fred's death, etc.), did not know everything.

Rose seemed to not know who the Malfoys were, so I just thought that Ron might have muttered something about them from time to time, but Hermione didn't expose their children to these "rumblings" much. Therefore, they aren't aware of the Malfoys' role in the war.

Anyway, this will be better explained in the next chapter by the ever adorable Dominique.

**2.** I do know that Ron told his daughter not to get too friendly with Malfoy Junior, but as written in the prologue cute Rosie stopped paying attention after the first 'magical' 9 words: "_Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie." _Rose is a very curious person and like her father she sometimes gets easily distracted, and unfortunately for Ron, she was oblivious to his wishes/requests (?).

**3.** In UK, whenever meeting someone new, one could use different expresions and "How do you do?" is one of them. It is the same as saying "Nice to meet you!".

**4. **I'm quite sure that you haven't expected Ron having an affair, but it is a small part in a much greater scheme of things! I do not like him much, sorry.


	3. Of truths and choices

**Author's Notes:  
**  
Here is the second chapter. I'm so happy that you take your time to read my creation. I'm thankful to **booksrbetterthanmovies**and **Bkil **for adding my FanFiction to their story-alert subscription.

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no profit from this work of art. However, I do own the plot and some OCs.

* * *

**Chapter 2. Of truths and choices**

Dominique Marie Weasley was silently cursing herself for having a big mouth. Why did she have to be the one to inform her younger cousins of their family's fame following the fall of a certain dark wizard?

"Well, better tell you earlier than later. You'd find out about their involvement in the war anyway."

"I know that our parents fought that Dark Lord, and that uncle Fred died in that battle, as well as Teddy's parents did," said Rose rather ardently, offended that her cousin would imply she was ignorant of the family's history.

"Well, that is just a very little part of it, Rosie. I didn't mean anything by that comment. Uncle Harry actually is called the Saviour of the Wizarding world, the Chosen One. He and your parents, Rosie, form what they call the Golden Trio; they were of great importance in defeating the enemy. Actually, it was uncle Harry who finished Voldermort off," replied the older girl. She saw the astonished faces of both Albus and Rose, and she remembered that her reaction to hearing that was quite the same.

Her uncles and aunts tried to offer their children a normal childhood, deprived of all the mayhem the fame brought. Her own parents hadn't told her much about the war. What they knew were only some of the adventures from their parents' and uncles' stay at Hogwarts, which the children found rather amusing. However, they weren't told the terrifying facts of the Battle of Hogwarts and such. Thus, when the 11 year old girl got accosted by fellow students asking her about her family's involvement in the war, she had no idea what to respond. Her elder sister, Tory, had found her sibling almost in tears. Dominique was quite shy when she started her first year, and all the attention she got was too much. Victoire, having already been through that, explained everything to her sister. She also included what Teddy had told her about his family from his mothers' side. Apparently, his godfather wanted Teddy to know the true story, and not listen to the gossip that was circulating about, so he would not be prejudiced towards certain relatives of his.

And Dominique knew that she had all the answers, yet she feared that some facts would embarrass the young Malfoy, who was dejectedly looking down. Then he raised his head and nodded to Domnique, as though giving her permission to go on with the story. He knew that it was better for Al and Rose to find out the truth about his family from the very start. He hoped that they wouldn't refuse to talk to him afterwards.

"Why you weren't aware of Teddy's relatives? Well, aunt Andromeda is Narcissa Malfoy's sister and her husband, Lucius Malfoy, as well as his son fought on the other side… at the start of the war, anyway. As far as I know, Draco Malfoy was instructed in his and your parents' sixth year to kill their Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore," said Dominique, but as she caught the shocked faces of her cousins, she hurried to continue with the story, "but he didn't, of course. Headmaster Dumbledore had it all planed with Severus Snape, you know the one you're named after, Al? Besides, according to uncle Harry, Mr Malfoy becoming a Death Eater was more of a punishment for his father's failure the year before, not by choice.

"As you know, your parents, Rose, and uncle Harry didn't go to Hogwarts the following year. They were on the run, searching for something that would help them destroy Voldemort. I think it was in late March that they got caught and were brought to Malfoy Manor, which was chosen by the Dark Lord as a residence for Death Eaters or something. Terrible stuff happened there, but Scorpius' father refused to acknowledge their identity. Uncle Harry says they might have been killed on the spot, were it not for that lie. And then, during the Battle of Hogwarts, Scorpius' grandmother, Narcissa Malfoy lied to Voldemort himself about uncle Harry being dead, when actually he was very much alive. Teddy told us, Tory and me, that his godfather is very grateful for that, as this gave him the chance to defeat Voldemort in a duel afterwards. The Malfoy family switched sides, therefore only Lucius was sentenced to a ten years long imprisonment in Azkaban," she said. She was looking for a reaction from her cousins, but all she got was complete astonishment and excitement - in Rosie's case, at the inflow of new information.

"The relationship between Malfoys and Weasleys has always been tense, even before the war, so you might see how your father, Rose, didn't want Teddy mentioning his Malfoy relatives. Although uncle Harry has nothing against you knowing, Al, uncle Ron said that you'd tell Rose and you'd get curious and try to find out more, and he didn't want that," explained Dominique, "but I agree with aunt Hermione and uncle Harry: we should all put the past behind us and not let the prejudice go on any further than it already has. I think you should know the truth and make an opinion of your own."

In the rights department, Dominique resembled the brains of the Golden Trio. She always would fight for justice and freedom of one's opinion, and her parents had always supported this trait. The youngest daughter of Bill and Fleur Weasley was proud to say that her family treated everybody fairly, which couldn't be said about a certain uncle of hers.

"I think that I should leave," mumbled Scorpius, standing up. He took Al and Rose's silence as a bad sign, so he thought that it would be better for him to find another compartment, which would be quite tricky, as not everybody shared Dominique's point of view.

From the tender age of five, he had noticed how people regarded his parents when visiting Diagon Alley. Even when visiting his father at work with his mother, the people in the Atrium would give them dirty looks and whisper between themselves. They did not even hide the fact that they were discussing the Malfoys in their presence. So when he was about eight years old, he asked his father, to whom he was rather close, what was those people's problem. Draco, knowing that his son was quite intelligent and would be able to keep up, gave him the same explanation Dominique had just given her cousins.

Since then, Scorpius made sure to always support Draco no matter what, for he had seen the remorse in his father's eyes when he talked about that dark period in his life. However, he couldn't regard his grandfather Lucius the same way he did when the latter returned from Azkaban, when Scorpius was about two years old. The youngest Malfoy wanted to find out what his grandfather's failure was, so he asked one of the house elves to bring him all the Daily Prophet issues following his father's fifth year. Sometimes, he wished he hadn't asked. After reading some of the articles on what happened in the Department of Mysteries that year, Scorpius would still feel shivers running down his back just by thinking about it. His great-aunt killed her own cousin and his grandfather was after some fifth and fourth years, how they could do such a thing was beyond the boy's understanding. If the eldest Malfoy noticed any change in his grandson's attitude towards him, he didn't comment on it.

It seemed to Scorpius that the past would haunt the Malfoys forever, because he couldn't even make friends with people he wasn't related to…

"What are you talking about? Of course, you're not leaving! Haven't you heard Dom? Our parents are alright with this, so why shouldn't we be the same?" asked the curly-haired Rosie. "Mum says that daddy is a bit narrow-minded, so don't worry about his opinion. We want to become friends. Right, Al?"

"Yeah! Scorpius, really, don't worry about that. And actually, I think I've made my mind. I'll be going to Slytherin to show everybody that this house isn't as bad as some may think, just as dad told me," announced the young Potter, who now seemed to be rather ecstatic about the idea of becoming a Slytherin. "And, you, Scorpius, could help me do that. What do you think?"

As the blond boy was still surprised by the reaction of the two cousins in front of him, all he could do was nod.

"I, for one, think that would be brilliant. Oh, I can't wait to see James and Fred's expression when you're actually sorted into Slytherin! That brother of yours is in for a jolly good surprise," Dominique gushed. "What a shame that I haven't got a camera."

And right on cue, the compartment door slid open, revealing the heads of James, Fred and Paul Jordan, with whom they would often get into trouble.

"Ooh, what have we got here?" asked Fred in a mocking way.

"Three good-for-nothing troublemakers," answered Dom in her 'newly appointed Prefect' tone.

"Oh, Dom! You wound my feelings! I just wanted to see what little Al and Rosie-bush is doing," exclaimed James, waving his hands around dramatically. And just as dramatically he entered the compartment, bowing to each person in turn and motioning for the other second year Gryffindors to follow him inside.

Hearing the stupid nickname her cousin called her, Rose's cheeks turned an endearing shade of red, her fists clenching in her lap. "Stop calling me Rosie-bush! My hair is not a bush!"

"Yeah, yeah… Keep telling yourself that, Rosie-bush," said Fred, while the other two troublemakers sniggered.

"All right, stop it, Fred, James. You two have made your point," Dom chastised them, and then, turning towards Rose, added, "do not worry, love. Your hair is lovely and you shouldn't listen to what 'Fried and Jammed' say. Nothing that comes out of their mouth is of relevance."

At the nasty nickname Dom had chosen for the related duo, the first years in the compartment started laughing, even Paul couldn't help but join them.

"Oh, Dom! You ruin all the fun," whined Fred pouting.

"Please, Fred… Look around and you'll see that everybody, except you two buffoons, is having fun. At your expense, that is," replied the young lady, an evil smile gracing her features.

"Well, enough of that," James waved his hands around, like he could stop the laughter with a hand sign. "So who is this? Pale, blond and grey eyes… Let me guess, a Malfoy?" asked the brown-eyed Potter, while looking at Scorpius.

"Yes. I am Scorpius Malfoy," answered the boy, raising his eyes to meet those of James. Scorpius didn't know what to expect from the eldest Potter. Taking into account that he would tease his own family, how he would treat the young Malfoy was hard to predict.

Rose, feeling his uneasiness and being ever the one to stand for fair treatment, spoke in defence of the boy across from her. "Have you got a problem with it, James?"

"No, not really. I was merely establishing that he was a Malfoy, that's all. I see, Al, you are already befriending future housemates," mocked James while grinning at his younger sibling.

"Oh, James, your teasing is really getting annoying and old. I think you've got more problems with him going to Slytherin, than he has," Dom defended her little cousin. "Now, leave and do everybody a favour by not getting into trouble. If I were to find any of you three with _WWW_ products in the corridor or anywhere else, as a Prefect, I'd have to confiscate it. I haven't forgotten how you put _Exploding Beans_ in the loo and the chaos it created, during our travel back home on Easter. Last year I wasn't a Prefect, so I couldn't do anything about it, but now, I am, so you'd better watch out."

At this, James, the drama-'queen' of Gryffindor, put his right hand to his heart, while the left one was hanging over his forehead, as though he was going to faint in the next five seconds. Dominique was certainly not impressed and started shooing the three second years out of the compartment. She wanted to leave herself in order to find her best friend, a fellow fifth year, Edeline Fleet.

"Have a great time here, at Hogwarts! And do not worry about the sorting; I'm sure you three will be alright. Oh, and you'd better change into your school robes. I see the madam with the food trolley, so we should be there soon. Good luck!" wished Dominique, closing the door after herself and the noisy trio.

"Thank you, Dom!" said Al rather loudly, so his cousin would be able to hear him through the closed door.

"We got rid of those three, finally!" exclaimed Rose, who was still quite upset about her stupid nickname.

"I, for what it's worth, don't think that your hair is bushy. It's normal," said Scorpius, trying to make her feel better, although it felt pretty awkward doing so. He had always been told by his mother and father that he should treat girls nicely and compliment them as opposed to offending them.

Albus agreed, nodding his head rather violently. "Rosie, really, just listen to Dom, and don't even think about their nicknames. Remember he used to call me Alby-dawns the entire summer, before dad threatened to take away his broom if he didn't stop? I know it's annoying, but that is James for you."

"He called you Alby-dawns? What does that even mean?" asked Scorpius, laughing so hard, that he started struggling with breathing.

"Yeah, laugh at me… We'll see your reaction, when he chooses a humiliating nickname for you too," said Al smirking at the blonde's widening eyes, most likely horror hidden behind them.

"But I'm not one of his relatives! Why would he do that?"

"Tell that to most of his classmates. He isn't related to most of them, and yet he has a nickname for almost everybody," said Rose with a pitying look. "Louis, Dom's younger brother, is a third year, and he told me that almost every single second year is fed up with the constant teasing from those three."

Outside the compartment, they could hear the _Honeydukes Express_ lady asking the students whether they wanted a treat. The two cousins looked at each other with giddy expressions on their faces. They have waited to buy something from the trolley for about their entire conscious life.

Seeing Scorpius' confused look at their reaction, Rosie hurried to explain the so-called ritual's meaning for them: their fathers had bonded over sweets on their first journey to Hogwarts. The former smiled, agreeing that when seen from that point of view, acquiring treats from the trolley indeed had its significance.

Having bought about every kind of sweet between the three of them, they sat back down enjoying the food and talking about their expectations of the upcoming year, about their family and traditions. Scorpius was rather interested about the Weasley family, it being so large and famous in the British Wizarding world. In about half an hour after finishing their snacks, when it was already dark outside, they changed into their school robes, as suggested by Dominique. The rest of their journey was spent on sharing jokes and laughing.

* * *

In a beautiful manor, somewhere in Wiltshire, England, a husband and his wife were talking. They were resting in bed, the glow which followed their lovemaking, surrounding the couple.

"Draco, I want this," said Mrs. Malfoy determinedly.

"Astoria, I understand, but you have to realise that there are some risks. You aren't in your 20's as when you gave birth to Scorpius. At least, try to understand that," pleaded Draco, while kissing his wife's beautiful hair.

"I understand. Believe me, I do. I just want to do this. It would bring me so much happiness, as well as to the entire family," replied the witch trying to show her husband the reason he should agree to her request.

"Oh, darling… I know that you would be happy. We all would be, but it's been so long since then. Aren't you afraid?" asked Mr. Malfoy, his voice full of concern.

His wife just shook her head, silently letting him know that she wasn't afraid. Then, she turned on her right side so she could face him. Gently, she touched his furrowed eyebrows, trying to make the skin smooth, as though it would make his worries disappear. She kissed him on the lips, her pleading eyes closing when the kiss deepened.

"Please," she whispered, "let's do this. I beg of you. Do it for me, for us!"

Draco closed his eyes, knowing that he was trapped. "Alright, we will do it."

Astoria's beautiful face shone with happiness and she started showing her gratitude towards her husband by kissing and caressing his body, going lower and lower…

* * *

**Explanation of some things that might be confusing:**

**1. **As I have previously explained, the Weasley/Potter kids knew some stuff about the war, but not everything. Dear Dominique, here, made everything as clear as possible. You will be able to read Al questioning his dad about this 'revelation' in a letter a bit later, I think it should be in the fourth or fifth chapter, can't remember.

**2.** Althougth Scorpius did know the truth (but not all the minuscule details), he wasn't aware that Teddy was Harry's godafather. It might be confusing, but I'll try to explain. Andromeda and Narcissa reconciled soon after Scorpius' birth, but they still weren't very close and they didn't see each other much. Therefore, neither did Scorpius. He knew little about his cousin and has seen him not that many times, and since in his house they did't discuss Teddy's extended family, the boy hadn't had the opportunity to ask or accidently find out who Ted's godfather was.

**3. **Now, about this 'risk' Astoria would undergo in order to be happy. I think you have understood that it was about having a second baby. Since she is also a pureblood, and quite possibly related to either the Malfoy or the Black family, or even both, I thought that there was a high chance that due to so much inbreeding, her having a second child could bear complications. And since Draco loves his wife he doesn't want her suffering or upset, therefore because of her wishes he was caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place.

**A quick poll for entertainment purposes:**

_What is your favourite Hogwarts house?_

A) Hufflepuff

B) Gryffindor

C) Ravenclaw

D) Slytherin

Let me know!

I would be very grateful for your reviews! Cheers!


	4. Of keeping promises

**Author's Notes:  
**  
Here is the third chapter, folks. And this is when the sorting takes place!

I'm very thankful that you spend your time reading my FanFiction. I'm also grateful and really happy that **TheUnderscore3024 **and **InTheDark363 **chose to add my story to their FF-alert subscription.

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no profit from this work of art. However, I do own the plot and some OCs.

* * *

**Chapter 3. Of keeping promises **

It was 6 pm and the Hogsmeade Station was getting rather overcrowded. Students of 11 to 17 years old, all in school robes, most of them sporting the colours of their houses, got off the red train on to the platform. The yelling of a certain half-giant could be distinguished over any other voice. "Firs' years, com'ere! Firs' years!"

"That's Hagrid!" exclaimed a pretty red-headed girl, quickly bouncing towards the gamekeeper of Hogwarts and Care of Magical Creatures teacher. "Hello, Hagrid! I've missed you!"

"Hullo, my lil' Rose! I see yeh've grown a bit. Oh, time flies by. Miss'd you too," said Hagrid, his booming voice making Rose smile. "An' Al's 'ere, too. Merlin, yeh look just like yer dad at elev'n," added Hagrid, when he saw Albus approach him.

"Hi, Hagrid! How've you been? Got any new Ashwinders?" asked Albus knowing Hagrid's love for different 'harmless' magical beasts, the Ashwinder being one of his newest interests. Seeing the professor's smile and nod, Al turned halfway towards Scorpius. "Hagrid, this is Scorpius Malfoy. He is our new friend. Scorpius, this is Rubeus Hagrid, he's going to teach us about magical creatures in our third year, if you're going to take it, of course."

To say that the half-giant was surprised at the social status of the blonde in little Al's life was almost like saying nothing at all. But Hagrid, having a soft heart and not being one to hold grudges for prolonged lengths of time, didn't comment on it and smiled at the young Malfoy.

"Hullo, there. Yeh're yer dad's spittin' im'ge as well," said Hagrid. Scorpius, intimidated by the half-giant, shyly smiled and uttered a simple "Hello" and started looking around himself, willing his unease to disappear.

"Alrigh'. Firs' years, follow me," the gamekeeper demanded from the gathered around students.

When they were walking downward a not very wide path, which at one point turned to their right, they saw it for the first time: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, in all its glory, built on the top of the rocks. All the first years' eyes were full of wonder, completely mesmerized. Most of them had heard, imagined, even dreamed about its beauty, but nothing could compare to the castle's real splendour. While approaching the harbour, the 'Oh's and 'Ah's had yet to leave their lips as the exclamations were still frozen on their innocent faces.

"Well, fo' to a boat," Hagrids voice broke the inexistent spell cast on the first years. "No mo' than fo' to a boat."

The children hurried to occupy a boat, some of the students guiding their friends to join them. Rosie did the same by dragging Albus and Scorpius after her to the nearest one. As she approached it, a young girl, with chocolate hair and piercing amber coloured eyes, came to them, her shy smile silently asking whether they could share the boat with her.

"Hi! Want to joins us?" repeated Al the same question for the second time that day.

"Hi! Yes, I would like to join you," replied the timid girl with a bit of an accent. "I'm Agatha."

As she introduced herself, the four of them got into the boat. Hagrid's voice could be heard instructing the boats to float towards the castle.

"I'm Rose," chirped the red-head, "and they are Albus and Scorpius."

"But call me Al, please," smiled Al towards Agatha, and she did the same in return. "Are you excited? I know I am."

"A bit," said the girl blushing, her voice so low, almost a whisper. "Well, a lot actually."

"I think all of us are excited," mumbled Scorpius, still admiring the castle, Rose, near him, nodded in agreement.

The rest of the journey towards the underground harbour passed in silence, the loch reflecting the omnipresent moon and the light from the multitude of towers and turrets that were part of the castle. After having lowered their heads because of a curtain of ivy, the students and Hagrid had finally reached the school's entrance. From the boathouse, they were lead into the Chamber of Reception, where a tall lean man stood, with a slightly scarred but handsome face. Watching the students advance into the Chamber, the professor kindly smiled, his pale green eyes mirroring his joy at receiving yet another batch of ingenuous students.

"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Professor Ferdinand Stump, the Deputy Headmaster and Head of the Hufflepuff house. In a few moments, after passing through these doors, you will be sorted into your respective houses, be it Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin," the teacher's voice, although a bit rough on the edges, was still kind and welcoming. Having said that, he went inside.

After what seemed like hours upon hours, the doors opened. In front of them was the Great Hall with its hundreds of floating candles, a multitude of high and wide arches, four long tables placed along the length of the hall and another one – horizontally at the very end of it. There was a large window behind the staff table, some of the higher panes consisting of stained glass. Between the podium and the four tables stood Professor Stump, near him was a stool with a battered hat on it.

The students bashfully entered the Great Hall two by two, Rosie and Al easily spotting their relatives at the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables. There could be heard whispers from the older students. They were commenting on those who were moving towards the DADA teacher. However most of the noise was coming from the first years, who were in awe with the enchanted ceiling. When they finally stopped walking, Al felt Rosie's hand slip into his own and he lightly squeezed her palm, reassuring her that everything would be alright.

Then the pointy hat, before their very eyes, came to life and started singing:

"_Through Medieval Ages have I passed  
From the very start have I been there  
Having the Founders' ever trust  
I can sort you anywhere_

_An united front you must be  
Don't let it divide you ever  
For among gold and treachery  
Friendship is the greatest treasure_

_You might belong in Ravenclaw  
Being wise and quick of thought  
Or in Gryffindor  
Showing braveness and never one to stop_

_You might find your peace in Hufflepuff  
For you have loyalty at heart  
Or yet in the old Slytherin  
With ambitions and never to part_

_My friend, do not fear  
For fairly, you I will sort,  
Into a house to become dear  
A glimpse into your head, quick and short_

_Sorting you, now, I shall help  
For I'm the ever Sorting Hat."_

The song was followed by a boisterous applause and some cheering from the students and the staff.

Professor Stump cleared his throat and unfolded a quite long parchment. "When you hear your name, come forward and I'll put on the hat so you can be sorted."

The first to be called was "Bletchley, Regina", a blonde girl, whose tiny hands were visibly trembling. As soon as the hat touched her head, it yelled "Ravenclaw". The girl smiled relieved, and went to join her house table under the applause of the other students. Another girl, "Carmington, Rochelle", was called, and she was sorted into Hufflepuff. As she reached her table, a boy of about 14 hugged her. Rose wondered whether the boy was her brother, for he shared the girl's slightly curly brown hair.

The first Slytherin was a blue-eyed girl, "Doyle, Thea". The fourth girl to be summoned was "Fleet, Caroline" and she was sorted into Hufflepuff, two voices, one of a fellow housemate and a Gryffindor, could be heard above all. The older girl and boy had to be Caroline's siblings, since they sported the same dimples in their cheeks when smiling. A third student in the badger family was "Giles, Nolan." A certain "Goldstein, Albert", whose name sounded familiar to Al and Rose, was sorted into the house that appreciated wit.

About ten minutes later, there were five additions to Hufflepuff – "Granaham, Geoffrey", "Herbert, Yvonne", "Jarvis, Orvin", "Macmillan, Bowen"; two to Gryffindor – "Hewt, Blair", "Leigh, Declan"; as well as two to Slytherin – twins "Hogan, Caoimhe & Cian" and a boy to Ravenclaw – "Howder, Barry".

"Malfoy, Scorpius" called the rough voice of the DADA teacher. It was followed by some whispers and even giggling, however the young boy had other things on his mind to notice anything else. A certain Weasley's "you'll be fine" was the only exception.

Oblivious to the world, Scorpius had the hat put on his head and waited for its judgement.

"Good afternoon, young man! I see some great intelligence in this head of yours" said the Sorting Hat. Scorpius knew it would be talking to him, hence he wasn't too startled by the hat's voice, however he couldn't get rid of the anxiety he felt.

"Good afternoon. So what is the verdict? Ravenclaw?" asked Scorpius in his head.

"Verdict? Oh, I see you're quite afraid. Of what? You don't know yourself. What I also see is a certain promise to a boy, Albus Potter?" replied the amused hat.

"Hmm. I promised I would go with him to Slytherin. So have I got enough ambition to go there?"

"Oh, dear boy, I'm certain great things await you two," said the hat in the intimacy of his thoughts, followed by a very loud "Slytherin". Al had started worrying that something was wrong, but as soon as the hat announced his new friend's house, he relaxed and happily clapped.

Next, the Deputy Headmaster called their acquaintance with golden eyes, "Manis, Agatha", who was sorted into Gryffindor. She was followed by a Ravenclaw "Montague, Roman", a seventh Hufflepuff "Norton, Ian", and another pair of twins. Strangely enough, the girl "Nott, Elizabeth" became a Slytherin, while her brother "Nott, Tristan" went to the house of blue and bronze. "Osgood, Paige" seemed to value loyalty as much as "Pembroke, Nell" was characterised by wit.

And finally, "Potter, Albus" was heard throughout the Great Hall. Al's green eyes caught the reaction of the other students and Hogwarts teachers. The sorting of Harry Potter's second son seemed to pick everybody's attention. James and his friends' whistles could be distinguished amidst the chattering of the other students, and it didn't make Al any less nervous as he advanced towards the stool. The hat covered his eyes, hiding him from the entire world.

"Ah, another Potter… So what have we got here?" said the hat intrigued, "I see braveness. That, boy, you have got in spades, but also lots and lots of desire to prove yourself, to show the world that you can do so much more than everybody else thinks. My dear! What fierceness and cunningness your thoughts hide!"

The eleven years old, who until then kept quiet, could not help himself but ask the hat what truly troubled him. "Could I be a Slytherin and still be the same Al my family knows?"

"Of course. I do not think that you could ever put your father to shame by being a part of Slytherin; I know that is what you fear most. You have a kind heart, but an ambitious mind. You actually remind me of the one you're named after, Albus Dumbledore. Put your mind at peace, for you most definitely will do great things, just like you promised on your journey," the hat reassured Al.

"Slytherin," it yelled and the entire Hall fell silent. As predicted by Dominique, James' face was a piece of art, his brown eyes wide open and his jaw hitting the floor. Fred's previously amused face, was now marred with surprised horror. The Headmistress' face, however, was by far the funniest one, for her features now resembled that of a deer caught in the headlights as opposed to her usually composed expression.

Just four people in the hall were smiling - Dom, Rosie and Scorpius, since the three of them had already known the young Potter's decision; the last person being Al himself. He was confident that he would keep his end of the promise. He would show everybody what he was made of and bring honour to the house of Slytherin at the same time. The former three students started applauding and everybody else, awakened by the noise, followed suit. As Albus sat down near Scorpius, the latter grinned and the both of them shook hands, eyes glinting with wicked plans for the future.

The Head of Hufflepuff quickly recovered and went on with the other names on the list he was holding. "Preddington, Mary-Anne" became a Gryffindor, "Prescotch, Jude" – a Ravenclaw and "Quigley, Lara" – a Slytherin. They were followed by first year Gryffindor "Quinby, Dirk", Hufflepuff "Rizley, Bernadette", Slytherin "Smith, Zared" and Ravenclaw "Stratini, Sierra".

The next to be called by Professor Stump, was one of the so-called 'cousins' of the Potter and Weasley children – "Thomas, Cameron" who joined the proud lions of Hogwarts, "Towler, Silvester" and "Wayne, Alden" doing the same.

At last, she heard it. "Weasley, Rose." The eldest child of two thirds of the Golden Trio was going to be sorted, hence receiving the same amount of whispering and attention from the Hogwarts residents was a given. Rosie quietly, but determinedly approached the stool and sat on it as the teacher put the hat on her curly hair.

"My, my, the daughter of Hermione Granger! I apologise, Hermione Weasley," the hat quickly rectified its mistake, as soon as Rose unconsciously thought of it. "You have got your mother's personality and cleverness; that is for sure, however you do not seek to show anybody anything; you feel good in your skin as it is. But, oh, what is that? You want to be different? Different how, darling girl?"

"I just do not want to be like the others, I want to be myself, not follow some Weasley rule, or whatever. I do not care what others may think. I'm so tired of hearing dad talk about our family belonging to Gryffindor. It is not true! Look at Tory and Molly, they are happy where they are!" furiously rambled Rose.

"Well, now, do not be so upset, you will be just fine in your future house, which is..." whispered the hat in her mind, and then yelled, "Ravenclaw!" At least, this announcement wasn't as shocking, so everybody applauded at once. Nevertheless, some of her cousins from the red and gold house seemed quite upset that yet another relative didn't join them. As soon as Rosie reached her table, Victoire hugged her favourite cousin and kissed her red hair, whispering words of encouragement, whilst Molly kindly patted the little girl on her back.

"Winslow, Trina" joined the house of ambitions, while "Wood, Octavia", whose father was quite popular in the Wizarding world of sport, was warmly greeted by her elder brothers, Karsten and Patrick, at the Gryffindor table. She was soon joined by yet another girl "Yestin, Xandra".

There were only two other students to be sorted, a girl and a boy. It appeared that they were either cousins or siblings, for they had the same slightly dark skin, deep blue eyes and shape of their chin. "Zabini, Amorette" with straight shiny black hair joined Rose at the Ravenclaw table, as "Zabini, Ambrose" with curly dark brown hair joined Al at the Slytherin one.

The Sorting Ceremony finished, thus the Headmistress stood up and greeted the students. "Welcome to our new students and welcome back to our old ones. Yet another year awaits you, knowledge to be acquired, patience to be challenged and qualities to be proven. I wish you a very productive term. Now, let the feast begin!"

* * *

A man knocked on the door no. 16 on the second floor of a B&B near Marble Arch. A beautiful woman opened the door, a smile making its way on her face as she admired the colourful bouquet her visitor was holding.

"You came!" exclaimed Karin, jumping into her lover's arms, her lips suddenly attached to his. What started as a 'Welcome back!' and 'Thank you!' kiss, quickly transformed into heavy petting as soon as the door closed behind the man in his late 30's. The bouquet laid forgotten on the floor, were it had been previously dropped from the visitor's hand. The said hand was too busy with undressing the woman the man was ravishing. Clothes went down in a matter of seconds, the bed was reached in about a minute and the love-making took long, long hours full of kisses, licks, soft bites, pulls and thrusts.

As they rested after repeated sessions of wild sex, Karin started drawing patterns on her lover's chiselled chest.

"I promised you I would come and you know that I keep my promises," he whispered in the darkness of their room.

"I knew you would, Ron. I love you," replied the woman, her voice soothing him inside out.

"I love you, too, little vixen. Now, let's sleep."

* * *

**Explanation of some things that might be confusing:**

**1.** I have mentioned every first year's sorting because there are going to be lots of characters (you've no idea how hard it is to come up with not so usual names [first and middle name + surname] for so many characters ^_^ ), and I don't want you wondering who the hell he/she is. But I will make sure that you don't get confused as to the house or age of different heroes/heroines in my story.

About the sorting of only 40 new students. I know that J. K. Rowling had previously mentioned that there are about 100 pupils in each year, however in Harry's year there are only 40 mentioned: 10 to each house. And, well, I kind of did the same thing. Let's just say that in that year there were less children going to Hogwarts.

**2.** Now about Rose becoming a Ravenclaw. As the hat has mentioned, she resembles her mother a lot, but unlike Hermione (who eventually became a Gryffindor) she has got nothing to prove. In my opinion, Rosie has a fierce temper (like any other Weasley), a gentle heart (she has got that from her mum) and lots of confidence. Compared with her mother she has always had lots of friends and relatives, hence she has never felt shy among her peers.

I don't deny that with as much success she could've been a Gryffindor, but it was her stubbornness that made her choose Ravenclaw and go against her father's word. Because of the same bull-headed personality she chose to become friends with Scorpius, despite the fact that her father was in a feud with all Malfoys, as Dom kindly informed her cousins in the previous chapter.

**3. **Why the hat could state Al's fear but not Scorpius'. Well, as we know the hat can read any thought in the head of the one wearing it. Albus knew of what he was afraid the most, so the Sorting Hat had no problem seeing it in the boy's mind. However Scorpius was anxious, but he wasn't quite sure of what precisely, hence the hat noticed the presence of something bothering him, but could not tell the exact source.

**4. **There are some Irish names, and here are their pronunciations:  
Aodhan [read as: _aid_ + _an_] Finnigan – third year, Gryffindor (mentioned in the prologue);  
Cain [_key _+ _in_] and Caoimhe [_kee _+ _va_] Hogan – first year, Slytherin.

**5. **B&B = Bed and Breakfast inn; loch = lake.

**A quick poll for entertainment purposes:**

_What is your favourite Hogwarts compulsory subject?_

A) Defence Against the Dark Arts  
B) Charms  
C) Transfiguration  
D) Potions  
E) Herbology  
F) History of Magic  
G) Astronomy  
H) Flying

Let me know!

**My own answer to the previous poll: **My favourite house is Slytherin (even on Pottermore I've been sorted into the house of cunningness and ambitions).

By the way, did you like the Sorting Hat's song? I would be very grateful for your reviews! Cheers!


	5. Of new acquaintances

**Author's Notes:  
**  
Hi, there! Here is the fourth chapter.

Thank you for reading my story and putting it on alert.

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no profit from this work of art. However, I do own the plot and some OCs.

* * *

**Chapter 4. Of new acquaintances **

From outside a medieval castle, lights could be seen flickering through its windows. The Great Hall was full of chattering, eating, smiles and ghosts. Two little boys, one with messy raven hair and the other one with blond locks, were making acquaintances with their housemates, who were to become their family for the next seven years and, possibly, for their entire life.

"How come a half-Potter, half-Weasley became a Slytherin?" asked a second year boy, who had introduced himself as Kieran Keltny.

"Well, the hat said I had lots of ambition," answered Albus, as if the answer was supposed to be obvious.

"Makes sense," mumbled Elizabeth Nott, who was seated opposite Al. "Hey, Scorpius, did you know that our fathers were in the same year as Potter's?"

"Yes, I did know that. Ambrose's dad was with them, as well," Scorpius informed his peers.

"Please, call me Al. We are housemates after all, aren't we?" said the young Potter, looking at Elizabeth and then at Ambrose Zabini. "So did you all know each other? I mean your fathers are friends, aren't they?"

The slightly dark-skinned boy made a gesture with his head, as if to say 'not really'. "Not exactly so… I have seen Scorpius like twice until now, when our parents would occasionally meet. The thing is we have been living in Italy for a very long time, and father is always travelling a lot because of his work, you know? That's how he met my mother – during a match; she was playing for the Italian National Quidditch Team. So when my sis' and I were six, we moved here, because father became the Head of the Department of Magical Sports and Games."

"Wicked!" exclaimed a girl with long brown hair. "I'm Sylvia Cornfoot, by the way, a second year. So as what did your mum play for her team?"

"She was a Seeker. Actually the year they met she caught the Snitch, but the French team still won the match just by 20 points," replied Ambrose.

"Well, our mother was friends with your fathers," said Caoimhe Hogan, gesturing towards Elizabeth, Scorpius and the Zabini kid.

"Her maiden surname was Parkinson," added her brother, Cian.

At that remark, Scorpius remembered what his father had once told him about a certain Pansy Parkinson. During school, she had been his on-again and off-again girlfriend, who had a really large mouth, sometimes saying things she shouldn't. "Yes, I have heard of her. Your father must be Irish, right?"

"Yes, he is. Mother went to Ireland to visit an aunt and she met him there. He was of the right kind, so grand-father gave them the permission to marry," said Caoimhe. Scorpius inwardly cringed at her comment about 'right kinds', and thought that she was just like her mother. He also saw Cian rolling his eyes, having the same thoughts as the blonde did.

"Well, my father never told me about a Parkinson. And I have met Mr. Malfoy at the Ministry of Magic, when Tristan and I would visit our father at work," stated Elizabeth. "He is the Head of International Magical Office of Law, and there he met my mum, when she was an intern."

"My dad met my mum when he was 11," chirped in Albus, his comment making almost everybody around chuckle or, at least, smirk.

"Believe me, Potter, everybody knows who your parents are," said Zared Smith with a sneer. He definitely didn't find anything amusing about Al's attempt at joking.

"Oh, please, Smith, don't start spitting around your venom. You might hurt yourself," said Trina Winslow, who, by the looks of it, knew the above mentioned boy. Zared just shot a grimace her way and continued eating his Shepherd's pie.

"Isn't it a bit weird that three fellow Slytherins had twins around the same time?" asked Thea Doyle out of the blue, her eyes shining the same way Rosie's did when she was pondering something.

"Hmm… yes, I guess it is a bit weird," replied Ambrose, running a hand through his dark brown hair.

"So, do any of you play Quidditch?" Al asked those around him. Everybody started giving their intake on the game, and the topic quickly became popular among most of the first years and some of the older students at the Slytherin table.

In the meantime, at the Ravenclaw table, Rose Weasley was enjoying some delicious lamb meat with rice, while talking to her housemates. She quickly took a liking towards Amorette Zabini, the girl seemed to be very bright and she would chatter nonstop, be it about either school or her family or Quidditch. Sierra Stratinni, who had been Amorette's friend since she was eight years old, would describe their holidays spent together and some of the mischief they had caused with Ambrose.

Another girl, who caught Rose's attention and seemed to have very interesting views on magic and everything else, in general, was Nell Pembroke. The girl with strawberry blond hair, although a pureblood, was very outspoken about the rights of other magical beings. She even had some theories regarding magical beings like centaurs and werewolves, who could easily be a part of the Wizarding community just by implementing some precautionary measures for the latter species as to ensure the society's safety.

Overall, Rosie's housemates were quite pleasant. She felt confident that she would be happy surrounded by them. She also didn't miss that some boys were really cute, and would grow to become gorgeous, like Tristan Nott with his high cheekbones and messy black hair and Jude Prescotch with dark-green eyes and chocolate tresses.

The tables suddenly were covered with different sweets and desserts. Amorette quickly went for her beloved Tiramisu, while Rose reached for some Banoffee pie. She turned her attention towards the Slytherin table, watched Al indulging in his favourite treacle tart, happily chattering away with his peers and she felt her anxiety disappear; her cousin would be just fine where he was.

In about 30 minutes, the food on the table disappeared and the Headmistress went to the podium with an owl carved on it and started her usual annual announcements. "The caretaker, Mr. Filch, has asked me to kindly remind you that 58 of the _Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes_ products are forbidden in Hogawarts, the list comprising 256 objects in total. Those, who would like to find out which objects exactly, can do so by checking the list in Mr. Filch's office. Practicing magic in corridors is prohibited and The Forbidden Forest, as the name suggests, is forbidden. Those who will not abide by the school's rules -"

*Boom!*

Out of nowhere, in the middle of the Great Hall, thousands of multi-coloured sparks were erupting from some little trinkets and then another *Boom!* followed, and a big Phoenix made out of fireworks advanced towards the ceiling and with a last blast it disappeared and some words formed in its stead: "Let the fun begin!"

The first one to come out of her shock was Dominique. "James Sirius Potter, Fred Arthurus Weasley and Paul Ansel Jordan, what is the meaning of this? Detention!" yelled the girl, threateningly pointing at the three troublemakers while standing. Her ire made the other students laugh and the three second years – cringe.

"Thank you, Miss Weasley," Headmistress McGonagal's voice echoed through the now silent hall. "As your Prefect put it, you three are going to have a detention. For 12 weeks. The Head of your house will choose what exactly you're going to do while serving it. Now, I wish everybody a good night. Do rest, please. Another academic year at Hogwarts has started, and all of you will need to do your best. Prefects escort the first years to their common rooms."

A petite girl with curly black tresses and a tall boy with broad shoulders and smoking-grey eyes approached the first years, introduced themselves as Delilah Dixon and Luther Kenneth – fifth year prefects, and asked everybody to follow them to the Slytherin common room. As they stood up, Al caught Rosie's eye and they both smiled. Close to her, there was a pretty girl with caramel coloured locks leading the way to the Ravenclaw tower.

As they were led towards the dungeons, he saw James and his friends going in another direction, towards the Gryffindor tower. His brother turned his head to the right and also noticed Albus. He winked his little brother's way and waved as to say 'hey'. The raven haired boy grinned and did the same; even in different houses they were going to be alright, if by alright one meant constant friendly teasing, mocking and the like.

"Finding the common room is going to be a bit tricky," whispered Scorpius once they had reached their destination.

Delilah told them to memorise the password – 'drifting castle', adding that it would change every fortnight, and through they went. The room had a low ceiling and seemed a bit like a dungeon itself, but Al found the low leather sofas coloured in either dark green or black really cool. Because of the greenish lamps and the lake, the common room had an air of mystery to it, which Scorpius and Albus instantly took a liking to. They looked at each other and wiggled their eye-brows, smirking like two mad people.

Luther turned to face the first years and gave them the welcome speech. "Congratulations! You've made it to Slytherin, because of your ambition, intelligence and cunningness. Just like our emblem, which is a snake, we are powerful, sleek and often misunderstood. We are not a factory of Dark Lords as some might say. We have had our share of them, but there are always black sheep in a herd, just like in the other three houses. At least, we have the decency to admit it.

"We play to win; we respect the traditions of Slytherin, trying to bring honour to this house. We are respected by the other houses, even if sometimes it is from fear. I'm not saying that making your peers tremble in their trousers is a good thing, but it is funny to watch them. Some mischief is good for stimulating one's mind. Nevertheless, comments on blood purity will not be tolerated both outside and inside our common room; I think we all have learned where that kind of judgement would bring us. Also, while joking that you've got hundreds of books on cursing is alright, actually using dark curses will get you into big trouble. The Head Boy, whose name is Thaddeus Valborg, himself will see to it that you are sacked from Hogwarts and the other Slytherin Prefects will support his decision whole-heartedly."

Near him, Delilah smiled and she continued where her colleague had left off. "Well, enough with the dark stuff. We, Slytherins, watch each other's back. Though we do like to compete among ourselves, there is always a limit. Unlike some Ravenclaws, we don't clamber over each other just to get good marks. We are wise, not just smart. Once you've become a Slytherin, you're one for the rest of your life, and the friends you've made here will continue to be so till your very end. We are the elite, not because we believe in blood superiority, but because we have brains and we have manners. I hope that none of you will put the House of Slytherin to shame.

"Now, about some technicalities. As I said the password is going to change every two weeks, so do keep an eye on the notice board. We like our privacy, so do not tell the password or bring anybody to our common room. If you do have some relatives in other houses, and you'd like them to visit you, talk to one of the Slytherin prefects first and they might give you permission to bring them here. Oh, and if you get on Bloody Baron's good side he might help you scare the students from other houses and even help you get rid of Peeves, the poltergeist. But, do not ask him about the blood stains, he gets rather upset."

"Now, I think that is all. The dormitories are over there," said Luther, pointing towards a door to their right. "The girls' dormitory is up the stairs on the right and the boys' – up the stairs on the left. Your names will be written on the board outside your room. And boys, do not even attempt to go to a girl's dormitory. Believe me, having your head swell like a quaffle isn't worth it."

At that Delilah started chuckling, her eyes having a distant look to them, like she was reminiscing something from her past.

"That's all. Good night," the Prefects wished the first years and left.

"That was a long speech and I really want to sleep," mumbled Ambrose and went in the direction of his dormitory. The others sleepily followed him; it had been a rather tiring day.

Once Al and Scorpius walked into their room, they were quite impressed. There were five ancient four-posters with green hangings, that seemed to be made out of silk, and the bedspreads were embroidered with silver thread. Also, there were some medieval tapestries, depicting famous Slytherins, covering the walls and beautiful silver lanterns from the baroque era were hanging from the ceiling.

"Nice," said Al, appreciating the interior design of his new home away from his actual house. Scorpius seemed to agree with his friend's judgement and plopped onto the bed, being allowed to relax at last.

Albus, however, couldn't indulge in such luxuries, for he had to write a letter to his parents. In about 15 minutes he had composed one, his tiny scrawl covering one half of the long parchment. He quickly released his owl, Udele, from her cage and attached the letter to one of her legs. He caressed her brown feathers and went to the common room with her, wondering how he could send the owl, since the windows weren't an option. He found a boy of about 17 and approached him. "Hi, I'm Albus. I would like to send my owl, but I do not know how. Could you help me?"

The boy smiled a bit and nodded. "I'm Thaddeus. So you are Victoire's little cousin… Well, I can help you. I am going to make a tour through the castle, so just let your owl follow me through the dungeons and to the Great Hall. From there she should be able to leave."

"Oh, thank you very much! Udele, follow him, please," Al told the owl and she hooted once to let him know that she understood. Then he watched as the Head Boy left the common room with the owl perched on his shoulder. He quickly returned to his dormitory, his body exhausted and in dire need of some sleep.

"Have you sent it?" asked Scorpius from underneath his duvet, once his friend came in. The other boys had long since fallen asleep.

"Yes, the Head Boy took her to the Great Hall. He is really cool," replied Al, while changing into his pyjamas. The softness of the sheets made him relax instantly and the warmth of the room, as well as the lake water lapping against the windows, proved to be quite soothing. He yawned twice and turned onto his right side.

"Good night, Al" muttered Scorpius.

"Good night, Scorp," said Al and instantly fell asleep.

Although the latter didn't see it, Scorpius' face broke into a wide smile. 'I have never had a nickname! Until now that is.' With that fought he closed his eyes and travelled to the land of dreams and ancient tales.

In the Ravenclaw tower, having listened to an amazing speech about the traditions of her house and written and sent a twelve inches long letter to her family, Rose snuggled into the comforting warmth of her duvet and wished good night to the other four girls in the room, who were either still changing into their pyjamas or already dreaming.

* * *

The room No.16, occupied by two lovers, was quite noisy inside. Fortunately, lovemaking sounds only echoed through the chamber, the Silencing Charm preventing those around to hear the scandalous mutterings and exclamations. The woman climaxed for what seemed the hundredth time that day, and he followed her mere seconds after. They rested for a bit, but then red-head started to get up and put on his robes.

"Are you leaving to go to her?" Karin's jealousy was clearly resonating.

"We've had this talk for a thousand times, love," replied Ron rather tired from all the secrecy his affair implied.

"Yes, I know. You cannot leave her, because she is your children's mother and your family wouldn't understand your motives," said Karin bitterly, "I know it by heart."

"Then, you should also know that although I have to comply with this situation, it doesn't mean I like it. I'd much better spend my time with you than with her."

"But, it's not fair, Ron! We love each other! Love shouldn't be repressed or hidden," exclaimed the 25 years old.

Ron sighed and took his wand from the bedside table. "Karin, please, do not make it more complicated than it already is. As soon as I'm able to explain them properly about us, I will. Any attempt for us to come out into the open would be futile, for they will ostracise me the second they find out."

Karin nodded and reached for her lover to kiss him good night. He smiled at her and left through the room's door. As she relaxed in her king-sized bed, she thought about every single failed attempt at making him stay the night. For some reason, he'd always go back to her, to their family. It was then that she had a breakthrough; she would give him a family! She was going to give him a child and he wouldn't be able to hide their relationship any longer. She wanted children herself, so it was a win-win situation. The tricky part would be to make him forget about casting the anti-pregnancy charms before making love, but she thought that she was devious and sensual enough to make him forget his own name if needed.

'No more failed attempts. Hermione Weasley count your days as a married woman,' thought Karin, and with that she fell into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

**Explanation of some things that might be confusing:**

**1.** Just a quick reminder: Karin is a squib, so the one to cast the anti-pregnancy charms is always Ron. And unlike the muggle contraceptives, they are very potent and 100% effective.

**2. **Mad, in British English, means crazy, as opposed to angry like in .

**A quick poll for entertainment purposes (as nobody answered the previous one, it will stay the same):**

_What is your favourite Hogwarts compulsory subject?_

A) Defence Against the Dark Arts  
B) Charms  
C) Transfiguration  
D) Potions  
E) Herbology  
F) History of Magic  
G) Astronomy  
H) Flying

Let me know!

**My own answer to this poll: **My favourite compulsory object is DADA and Potions. The former one is just bloody brilliant, as for the latter, well I like Chemistry, so you kind of see the correlation.

I would be really grateful if you gave some kind of feedback. Do you like it or not? Could you possibly write what exactly pleases and what bothers you? Review, please.

And thank you once again for reading it! Cheers!


	6. Of studying magic and great news

**Author's Notes:  
**  
And here is the fifth chapter.

I am very grateful to everybody who read my story and put it on alert.

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no profit from this work of art. However, I do own the plot and some OCs.

* * *

**Chapter 5. Of studying magic and great news**

2 September proved to be a beautiful sunny day both in Scotland and England. As Ginevra Potter was making breakfast for her family, three owls arrived at the window of the drawing room. A very old Kreacher intercepted them and put the letters they had carried on a silver platter with beautiful ornaments – a wedding gift from Ginny's ex-teammates from the Holyhead Harpies. Harry, noticing the letters Kreacher had just brought in, thanked the elf and hurried to look through them.

"Love, here is the new issue of _Quidditch Weekly_, with a note from Angelina about some figures you should have a look at," announced Harry.

Ginny, George's wife and Katie Wood were on the board of directors for the said sport magazine. It was a very remunerating activity for Mrs. Potter after she finished her Quidditch career due to the birth of her first child.

"The other paper is the _Daily Prophet_," added Harry, "and that is a letter from Al! Come quickly!"

Ginny Potter asked Kreacher to take over the cooking, while she joined her husband at the table. She couldn't wait to find out in what house he had been sorted.

Harry cleared his throat and started reading.

"_Dear mum and dad,_

_You told me that you'd support me no matter what, so I hope the offer is still available. It seems that I'm quite ambitious. Yes, I got into Slytherin,_" Harry changed a worried glance with his wife; they knew how much Al had feared that happening, however he continued, "_but don't worry, I'm actually ok with it._" That line had his parents very surprised and Harry even shook his head, chuckling; that kid was way tougher than he let himself recognise.

"_I met Scorpius Malfoy on our way to Hogwarts (which, let me tell you, is awesome) and we kind of started talking about our families and he told me about Teddy. Dad, how could you keep from us so much information? I mean, when Dom told us the entire story on our journey I could hardly believe it. However, it certainly explained the stares we would get in Diagon Alley or any other place visited by magical folk. Stupidly, I thought it was because of mum having been a Holyhead Harpy, I should've known better… It's not to say that you being part of their team wasn't wicked, mum, it's just... dad being the Chosen One is so much more, I think. By the way dad, people have come to me saying that you are cool and that you are their hero! Quite hilarious..._

"_And I'm digressing. So Dom also told us about Scorpius' family, so there's no reason for you to worry or something. I know with whom I'm becoming friends. There's also this girl – Elizabeth Nott. She's a feisty one, reminds me of aunt Hermione, I like her. And Ambrose Zabini is a cool bloke. Can you believe it? His father is the Head of Department of Magical Sports and Games and his mother was a seeker for the Italian Quidditch Team. He said that he was rather good at being a keeper, and Scorp is a chaser. If they were to come for summer to stay for a week or something, we would have great Quidditch matches! _"

Harry started laughing at his son's excitement when describing his friends, and he also caught the hint that these friends of his would become Al's guests in the near future. His son was a Slytherin indeed. Ginny seemed to share her husband's thoughts, but prompted him to keep on reading.

"_And there is this girl – Thea Doyle, who seems like the dreamy type (aunt Luna would like her). Oh, and there are the Hogan twins; she is a bit unpleasant, but her brother is very funny. The only one I really do not like is Zared Smith, he certainly is the sneering type. _

"_In general, I like it here. My common room and dormitory are amazing and a bit enigmatic, but I like that. And we were given like the best welcome speech ever and the Prefects seemed really nice. Let me inform you that we were told that using dark curses would get us sacked at the insistence of the Head Boy himself, who is a Slytherin, and that commentaries on blood purity would not be tolerated. That fact made me feel even more comfortable about my choice. And I wrote choice because I told the hat to put me into Slytherin. It said that I had the Gryffindor characteristics as well, but I'd do better in the other house._

"_Well, that's kind of it for now. Oh, and James is alright with me being in Slytherin, so hopefully he will not continue with his teasing._" At that, Ginny snorted in a rather unfeminine way, and her husband agreed with her reaction; there was no way James wouldn't tease his brother about anything.

"_Tell Lily-bee I miss her. _

"_Love you, Al,_" Harry finished reading. "I guess I have got to write a reply before going to work."

* * *

In a beautiful two storey house, somewhere near Richmond, Hermione was reading a similar letter from her daughter, the only difference was its length and the amount of details Rose had inserted. The brown-haired woman smiled while reading about Rosie and Al becoming friends with Scorpius Malfoy. Although she wasn't very fond of Draco, she would never let herself judge a little boy who had no part in her family's dispute with the older Malfoys more than a decade before.

She also felt rather proud to read that her little girl became a Ravenclaw and that she took a liking to her housemates. Hermione feared that her eldest child wouldn't have felt comfortable among children that weren't her relatives. But having read her sweetie's account of everything that had happened on her first day at Hogwarts, the mother of two had her concerns proven baseless. The only thing she had to worry about was informing Ron of Rosie's sorting into the house of eagles.

'That is going to be rather difficult,' thought Hermione, and went to wake up her sleeping husband. 'For some time now, he has been really tired. Poor Ron... I guess that working so much has finally caught up with him. I should prepare some of his favourite food as to cheer him up, and perhaps a massage is in order…'

* * *

At about 8 o'clock in the morning, the students were up and about the castle, most of them enjoying the delicious meal made by the school's house elves. The Great Hall was bursting with activity, some talking, others reading or going through their schedules. The Head of the Slytherin house, Professor Slughorn, who looked quite worn down, gave Al and his housemates their timetables for the upcoming year.

"It is not that bad, is it?" commented Scorp, as he surveyed their timetable. "I mean on Monday we've got Potions with Gryffindor and then DADA with Ravenclaw."

"Well, Friday is definitely the easiest – just potions," remarked Elizabeth, "however, Thursday with Transfiguration with Gryffindor and Charms with Ravenclaw doesn't sound very hard, either."

"Yes, but Wednesday is hell," grumbled Ambrose. "I mean double Potions and Astronomy, at midnight, with Ravenclaw. That's quite a lot."

"Don't complain! I've got double Potions, as well, on Thursday" announced Amorette, who had approached the table while the Slyhterins were perusing the timetables, hence they hadn't noticed her. Following her were Sierra and Rosie. The latter quickly hugged her cousin and he started introducing her to his housemates, Ambrose doing the same with his sister and his Italian friend.

"Awful! Is it not?" exclaimed Elizabeth, referring to their timetable. "Oh, and I've no idea what my brother told you about me, but let me inform you that I'm older by 15 minutes, so if he does anything, you bring him to me. And for Merlin's sake, call me Lizzy. Elizabeth is making me feel ancient; I was named after my great-grandmother."

"Or even better, call her Tony," a pleasing voice was heard behind the Ravenclaw girls. Tristan Nott gracefully stood near them, smirking at his sister. "Her full name is Elizabeth Antoinette, so I like to call her Tony."

"If you know what's good for you, you'll never call me Tony, not even in your dreams!" threatened Lizzy, pointing at her housemates. "It sounds like a boy's name. Awful name!"

"Oh, dear. Relax, Liz. Don't get flustered. And here I thought you, Slytherins, were the best at masking your emotions," said Tristan cheekily.

"Raven, don't get me started! And you play dirty," lamented the pretty girl with bouncing copper curls.

"Who is playing dirty?" asked James Potter, his cousin, Fred, and Paul standing on his left and right side, respectively. The three of them had grins plastered on their faces and had those weird lights flickering in their eyes, as though they were about to cause mayhem.

"Oh, no," grumbled Al. "What do you want, James?"

"Albie, whatever do you mean? I came to check on my little bro and Rosie-bush," said James feigning innocence that nobody actually believed. However, that seemed to be a wrong thing to say, for Rosie got rather pink in the cheeks and was ready to tackle her cousin to the floor. But, as something caught her eye near the entrance of the Great Hall, she relaxed and sweetly smiled.

"You'll regret ever calling me that stupid nickname, James," replied Rose menacingly and made some sort of a hand sign towards someone. Although, those around the Slytherin table didn't catch the one to cast the spell, they had definitely noticed the oldest Potter's hair growing at an alarming rate, the tresses becoming curlier by the second, it indeed resembling a bush. Everybody started laughing, with the exception of the one affected by the spell, of course.

Their amusement hadn't been long, for one of the professors, who was trying to hold in a smile, approached them and reversed the spell. As she didn't know who the one to send the little curse was, she couldn't punish them and with a poignant look directed at James, the teacher left.

"Where is a camera when it is so much needed?" laughed Rosie. James didn't appreciate the teasing that followed his cousin's remark so he left, his friends trailing after him, still clutching their sides that were hurting from so much laughter.

"I'll have to thank Dom for that," exclaimed Rose happily. "She taught me a special sign to make when James would play on my nerves, like today," she explained; most of the students around her were still chuckling.

When it was close to 9 am, the Slytherins quickly left for their lesson, heading for the dungeons, where the Potions class was located, while the Raveclaws either went to the Library or stayed in the Great Hall, since they had the first period free.

* * *

The days had passed in a frenzied blur, just like the weather outside got worse. Scotland was known for its strong winds and rather heavy downpours, therefore students found themselves mostly inside the castle, which was full of excited teenagers about the upcoming Quidditch trials.

Al and Scorp were too young to try out for it, but they had impressed their fellow classmates with their flying skills during the lessons held by Madam Hooch. Albus knew that his brother and his cousins, Fred (whose birthday had been celebrated on 8 September) and Louis, would try for their house's team. James and Lou wanted to play as chasers, while Fred, just like his father and namesake, went for playing as a beater. The green-eyed boy was certain that they would get on the team, for they were really good; their dexterity had been proven during the matches held at the Burrow.

The lessons were quite interesting. Al really enjoyed Potions and Charms, his professors would often praise him when he'd do something extraordinary. Unfortunately, the two lessons were held with Gryffindor, so he didn't know what Rosie's performance was like; but with her being her mother's daughter, she should've been doing just great. And even without Rosie's presence in all his classes, he had enough challenge from his housemates as it was. Scorp and Ambrose were really good at everything they were doing, and Liz was just as bright. Thea with all her weirdness would perform sometimes even better than the four of them put together, and when they questioned her what her secret was, the blue-eyed girl would simply shrug and put on that adorable smile of hers.

When they had some free time, some of the first years from all the houses would gather together and study in the library. Rose and Amorette could be frequently heard fiercely whisper-arguing about a potion ingredient's better usage and characteristics. Tristan often chuckled when his sister would get flustered because of a complex charm that had nothing to do with the first years' curriculum; she had always liked a good dare. Ambrose could be just as often seen rolling his eyes at some weird stuff either Thea or Sierra would discuss. Al's 'cousin', Cameron Thomas, and his friends, Silvester Towler and Alden Wayne, would always try to stifle their laughter. Since their study buddies were really strange, teasing them about a thing or another was a given. Scorp and Al would simply shake their heads as if to say 'tell us about it; we have to put up with that almost every single day.' The shy girl, who joined them in the boat, Agatha, would sometimes join the group, bringing her friends, Blair Hewt and Octavia Wood, with her. The Hufflelpuff representatives were Bowen MacMillan, who knew Al and Rose through their parents, and some of his fellows, Orvin Jarvis and Ian Norton. Every single time Tory would catch one of those sessions, she'd smile towards her little cousins and remind herself to write a letter to her uncle Harry and aunt Hermione, congratulating them for having such nice children.

Of course, this was not to say that Al didn't get in trouble once in a while, but the Invisibility Cloak really helped him escape from being caught most of the time. His and Scorpius' pranks were quite innocent and on a much lower scale than those of James and his partners in crime. The duo's latest prank was spiking the Gryffindors' pumpkin juice at dinner with tincture of capsicum, which resulted in half of the lions soaking wet with the beverage. The students after taking a gulp of it would spill it back right away, more often than not, on their nearby housemates. Capsicum sometimes would be used for treating colds, so it didn't present any damage to the students' health, only to their uniform, but there was nothing a simple cleaning spell couldn't take care of.

The weeks passed by, the Quidditch trials had been held, and Al's three relatives were training quite hard for the up-coming match with Slytherin; letters between students and parents were constantly exchanged; lessons were attended and homework done; points were given or taken; detentions were served; friendships were deepened and, for some, love was tested.

Victoire missed her boyfriend very much and she couldn't wait to have her first Hogsmeade trip in November so she could finally see Teddy. Even Thaddeus noticed her sulking and sometimes would try to cheer her up. She had no idea how he got into Slytherin with that nice attitude of his, but then she'd catch him with a girl or another and be reminded just what a devious Casanova he was. But, he had never hit on her, just some mild flirting here and there during the first term of her fifth year, before Teddy made her his girlfriend.

'Just another five days and it'll be 4 November and my Ted will come see me. Hopefully he will remember to bring the gift for Molly's birthday,' she fought while walking through the silent castle. She had to check the South Tower before going to sleep.

* * *

A happy Astoria was gently rubbing her belly. She was pregnant, at last! She's been so for apparently almost three weeks. 'Thank Merlin, for magic!' she fought, for with a simple spell she could easily find out for how many weeks she had been pregnant. 'But, I cannot tell anybody, not even Draco. It is not certain until at least the third month, and I wouldn't be showing for another three months or so. With Scorpius I was barely showing in the 19th week, so it should be alright.'

Astoria asked her house elf, Letti, bring her some herbal tea and green salad with Leicester cheese. She had to be healthy and eat properly. Having eaten, she went for a walk through the gardens adjacent to the Manor. She was so excited she could barely restrain herself from screaming out loud about the tiny organism growing in her womb. 'Even if I can't tell anybody, this is great news, the best I've had after Scorpius' birth.'

* * *

I would be really grateful if you reviewed my story, telling me if you like it or not. I'm kind of updating, but I don't even know if you enjoy reading it, or perhaps there are some aspects of the FanFiction that I should improve. Please, let me know!


	7. Of couples and talking

**Author's Notes:  
**  
I apologise for not having updated in almost a week. I was a bit busy. And here is the sixth chapter.

Thank you for reading my story and putting it on alert.

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no profit from this work of art. However, I do own the plot and some OCs.

* * *

**Chapter 6. Of couples and talking**

It was 4 November and it was raining. 'That's a shame. But I would put up with a storm if it meant seeing Ted,' thought Tory, as she put on her coat with a bonnet on and cast a water repelling charm on it and on her shoes.

Being a Head Girl, meant she had some responsibilities during her Hogsmeade visit, so first she had to check which Prefects would go to the Wizarding village and the hours when they would make tours through it. Although Thaddeus had finally decided on going out with a girl, he promised her that he would take care of Tory's duties, so she would be free to spend some time with her young man.

"Thank you so much, Thad!" exclaimed Victoire, when he'd informed her about his plans. "Are you sure that Raphaela won't mind you both tour on your first official date?"

"No, she won't. She's a Prefect, so she is going to be with me anyway," the Slytherin assured her and nonchalantly shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal.

"You are the best!" said Tory and hugged him. She smiled towards him and quickly left their little office, heading for the school's entrance to take a carriage.

'You have no idea,' thought Thaddeus. The reason he couldn't stop changing one girl after another was the beautiful blonde girl, who had just left him, 'to meet her boyfriend, the lucky bastard.'

He'd been in love with Tory since their fourth year, and when he'd heard her talking with her best friend, Idelle Davies, that the boy of her dreams had to have good manners and be kind, he quickly made the decision to do the impossible to make her his, and not for a night, but in the long run. That is why Thaddeus started treating everybody even nicer than he had before. He wanted to make her feel at ease with him, so he lightly flirted with her; he didn't want to scare her with his advances. Besides, he was a Slytherin and she a Weasley, and that was a problem in itself, on her family's part, not on his.

Every plan and dream went out the window when Ted Lupin, a seventh year at that time, had kissed her in the middle of the Great Hall. He wanted to hate the metamorphmagus, but couldn't. The boy obviously loved her and seeing her so happy with him made Thaddeus realise that he should just let it go and be glad that her man of choice would take care of her and not hurt her. Despite her being unavailable, the 'treating everybody nicely' behaviour had stuck with him, and somehow he was glad that his feelings for her didn't turn bitter. He loved seeing her bubbling with joy, especially when he was the one to make her smile. He hoped that he would find somebody as loving and warm as she was, hence changing the girls one after another. He still hadn't found that somebody.

'I'd better go meet Raphaela,' thought the 17 years old, closing the door of the heads' office after him.

* * *

Teddy was impatiently pacing back and forth near the entrance to Hogsmeade from the castle's side. He was so thrilled about seeing his girlfriend that he didn't even notice the said girl's younger sister holding hands with another fifth year Prefect, Karsten Wood. Nor did he pay attention to Louis following his sibling, his eyes further narrowing when Dom's boyfriend kissed her.

Finally, the young Lupin saw his gorgeous girl opening the door to a carriage nearby, and he quickly went to her so he could help Tory descend from the carriage. She sweetly smiled at him and without saying anything else she threw herself at him, ravishing his mouth with all her might. They didn't stop snogging even when he apparated them to his flat – a generous graduation gift from his godfather. The rest of the day they had spent in his bed, completely oblivious to the world and Molly's birthday.

Meanwhile, in Hogsmeade, the students old enough to visit it were roaming around, the rain not being able to dampen their mood. The two fifth year Gryffindor Prefects could be seen together about the village, their mouths indecently attached to one another, while the third year Ravenclaw, Molly, was enjoying butterbeers with her friends. She knew her elder cousins were busy with their sweethearts so she didn't read too much into their absence. Besides, the boy she had a crush on, was at her table smiling her way. Molly felt she could drown into Sebastian Towler's bottomless black eyes. Unfortunately for her, Louis, who was also present, had caught her staring and he was thinking of ways to tease her about it and, perhaps, scare the boy away; nobody was good enough to be with the girls in his family. 'Ted is practically a Potter, he doesn't count,' reasoned the blonde in his head.

* * *

Near Hogsmeade, the School of Wizardry and Witchcraft was rather silent. With most of the students gone, the first and second years were almost the only ones present in the Great Hall enjoying their lunch. Rosie and Amorette decided to join their family at the Slytherin table and Sierra and Tristan followed them there. The impromptu gathering resulted in funny stories being told and lots of smiles. Their laughter had been noticed by Cameron and his friends as they entered the hall. So the three students went to join Cameron's 'cousins', and Agatha, who had wanted to go to the Slytherin table before, but didn't have the courage to, quickly followed her housemates, taking Blair and Octavia with her.

To say that the Headmistress was surprised to see the rather blatant evidence of house unity, was saying very little. Minerva was so proud and glad that her predecessor's wish had come true that she could barely contain her tears of joy. She knew that when she'd tell Albus Dumbledore about it, he would be just as happy.

"So what are you going to do on Christmas?" asked Thea, completely changing the topic of their discussion. She tended to make people deviate from their previous conversations and Al found that quite funny, and sometimes also helpful.

"Hm, everybody is either coming to my home or to the Burrow," he answered. "If the latter, nana would come very early in the morning so she could help my mum prepare food for the entire Weasley/Potter clan. And that is quite a lot, believe me. Especially, with uncle Ron being present there."

Rose started chuckling and seeing the others' confusion as to what she had found hilarious, she tried to explain. "You see my father is a big fan of eating, anything prepared by either nana or mum is good enough for him. He'd just eat it all, leaving nothing behind." The others understood and smiled, some knowing what it's like to have fathers with impressing eating abilities, or better say volumes.

"Then, we would all gather together, open our presents and Rosie and Hugo sometimes sleep over," continued Al with the family's Christmas traditions. "Oh, and aunt Hermione and my dad would go somewhere for a bit."

"They're going to our grandparents' graves, Al," said James, who sat near Cameron, Fred and Paul joining the others at the table opposite Silvester. "I see you are all mingling in the hall as well, that's a first."

"Thank you. I like being first at everything," replied Amorette, a saccharine smile plastered on her face. "It was Rosie's and my idea to come here, so we're, kind of, the catalysts of this…" she added pointing at their group.

"So, what do you do for Christmas?" Cameron asked the Zabini siblings.

"Well, if father has got enough free time, we go to the mountains in Switzerland, Sierra and her family sometimes come with us. We receive lots of presents from relatives and father's co-workers. We go to a restaurant or something and that's it," he finished with a shake of his head, as if saying 'no big deal'.

"But, I really enjoy going with you to the mountains," Sierra gave her opinion. "And your mother is so nice, and she has given my brother and me the most original gifts. Last year I got a globe, which is like the copy of Earth, but on a much smaller scale, and whatever country I touch with my finger, it would show me its cities, time, weather and even history, if I wanted. My dad travels a lot, so I'm not always sure when it's a good time to contact him or what gift baskets I should give him via floo. The globe is brilliant; it's never failed me so far."

"It does sound like a rather cool gift," commented Lizzy. "My favourite present, surprisingly enough, was from Tristan: a beautiful Japanese doll dressed in a kimono, complete with their special umbrella, footwear and hair clips. Yoko can sing and speak in both Japanese and English. She even moves her ceramic lips, so cute!"

She leant in and hugged her brother, thanking him once again for her amazing gift. Tristan rolled his eyes at her antics, but hugged her back. "I remembered you saying how much you had liked that play – '_Chio Chio San_', so I thought you'd like it."

"I love it," declared Lizzy. "Oh, Rose, I really should show it to you. I'll have mother send it to me. Mum said that it could break in the trunk and I told her to put on a securing charm, but she said it was risky anyway. I've been missing Yoko's singing… Perhaps Dad will go to a puppet master or someone so he could cast the charm on it."

"Do not worry, Liz. Father would go to Japan for a local master, if you as much as hinted it to him. He really can't see how you manipulate him. And he is supposed to be cunning, as if?" said Tristan with a bit of sarcasm.

"And that is why I'm a Slytherin," exclaimed Lizzy cheerfully. At that, those present started laughing; her bubbly personality was rather contrasting with her scheming tendencies.

"And what do you do on Christmas?" asked Al.

"Well, not much. We go to my mum's stepmother, and she gives us tonnes of sweets and gifts. She's the cuddling and warm type. Grandma really enjoys pulling at my cheeks, like I'm some kind of cheeky toddler," complained the girl.

"Yes, grandmother takes great pleasure in tormenting us with her hugs and the like. She is always trying to arrange my hair, like that is even possible," said Tristan and ran a hand through his messy mop on the head.

"I understand your pain. Mum is doing the same all the time," uttered Al. "And when she gives up, she looks at me like it is my fault that the comb is of no good. She married dad, she should've known better."

Those who knew the Potter family started laughing, James' guffaws being the loudest. "Oh, yes. Mum's looks are the best. However it does not compare with nana's stare. She is amusing bordering on scary."

Scorpius, who until then was quite silent listening to others' accounts of their family, finally found something he could relate to. "Grandmother's pointy look is scary, full stop. Nothing remotely funny about it. Once she caught me sneaking my father's broom outside. I had a headache for days to come, her flashing eyes still make me shiver."

"Days? My mum gives me earfuls to last me for months. That is why, whenever I do something I shouldn't, dad doesn't tell her," said Fred grinning and high-fived Paul, who seemed to have the same situation at home.

"About mothers, Al, mum wrote to me saying that we are going to the Burrow this year, and that the Longbottoms are going to be there, as well," stated James.

"Longbottoms? As in Herbology Professor Longbottom?" asked Amorette.

"Yes, professor's family are coming for Christmas," confirmed the oldest Potter. "The Scamanders' should've also been coming, but their plans changed," James told Al and Rosie.

"That I knew," said the red-head. "Lys and Lor had told me yesterday in the common room. They are going to Mexico this year; they have found some strange creature called Snorkwarm or something."

"The Snorkwarms aren't strange; they just like climates where it is warm and humid, too. They look like normal warms, but they've got magical properties like becoming invisible and surviving for weeks without anything to drink or eat," Thea informed everybody at the table.

"Aunt Luna would love you," proclaimed Fred and the Potters, Rose and Paul nodded frantically in agreement.

"Well, sorry, but it seems a bit nuts to me," said Scorpius with a shrug. "But there are many magical creatures; so who knows whether they exist or not?"

"You didn't say what you were doing for Christmas, Scorp," Al reminded him.

"Well, we stay at the Manor, have dinner and I receive gifts. Sometimes aunt Daphne and her family would join us, but I'm not yet sure about this year. On Boxing Day, grandmother goes to St. Mungo's to participate in a charity or another, and she takes me along once in a while," mumbled Scorpius unenthusiastically; he had no amazing story to tell, except- "Dad, for about two years now, sets up a fireworks show for us to watch. It scares the hell out of grandfather's peacocks."

"Is it true that the peacocks are albino?" asked James. He had heard it once from his uncle Ron, when he was grumbling under his breath about Malfoys' pompousness.

"Yes, it is true. They are really creepy, especially at night," replied Scorp, his voice reflecting his opinion on his grandfather's pets.

"I think they're cool!" exclaimed Cameron. "They're better than grandmother's scary dogs. They're really, really big. Whenever we visit nana's home, mum is keeping her distance from them. On Christmas, we either go there, or to mum's parents. If it is the latter, then I get to spend the holidays with aunt Parvati's children, Devon and Amber. It's like my sister isn't enough and I have to put up with three girls at once."

"I wish I had any siblings or even cousins," said Agatha quietly. Listening to everybody talking about their extended family made her a bit jealous. "My parents are both single children, so on Christmas it gets rather boring. Grandpa has a very weird sense of humour and somehow I tend to fall asleep before 11 pm."

Blair, trying to make her feel better, squeezed her hand under the table. "If it's any solace, I also have no one of my age. All my cousins are over 20, some with children of their own. I get to babysit more often than not; it's kind of their gift for me calling it experience for the future, when actually it's just free babysitting" she said chuckling and the others joined her laughter.

The discussion continued on the same theme, the students telling some funny stories from Christmas and the like. At some point, Lysander and Lorcan, Lys and Lor for short, have joined the merry group. They'd been introduced by Rosie and, as expected, they perfectly got along with Thea and Sierra.

When Neville Longbottom came into the Great Hall for a quick lunch, he had to look twice and then, pinch his arm as to verify whether he was dreaming or not. He caught Minerva's eye and the both of them smiled, the picture before them was surprising, however refreshingly so. 'Who would've guessed that Al's sorting in Slytherin was going to lead to this?' thought the Herbology teacher. He took a seat near the Headmistress and they started discussing some of the ingredients needed to take care of some rarer plants.

* * *

"Hey, Hermione!" said Harry, as he entered her office. "Trowler told me you were looking for me. I went home for lunch."

"Yes, I was looking for you. Those from Department of International Magical Cooperation have contacted me. The Head of International Magical Office of Law, to be more exact. Nott told me that there's a murder from India on the loose; their ministry have contacted him. Apparently, this Vikram Vidur Xanthus is a bit touched in the head and for some reason believes that he has got a wife and that she's been captured and brought here, in Great Britain. Anyway, he is a disturbed, yet very dangerous, fellow. We are going to receive more information about him in a couple of hours, as well as a photo of him. I just wanted to let you know in advance. Once we receive the intel, all the ministry workers are going to be instructed on how to act if they see him. It seems that he hates workers of any ministry with a burning flame, so everybody should be prepared, just in case," Hermione explained, her tone grave.

"Those are rather disturbing news. We haven't had any psycho murders on the loose for quite some time now," Harry voiced his opinion, and by the looks of it hers as well.

"I was really glad not to receive files about deranged fellows. But no such luck, one would always appear out of nowhere."

"Don't worry, Hermione. We'll take care of it. It's going to be ok," Harry tried to assuage her worries. "Have you heard from Rose? They've got really interesting friends."

"Yes, I have. Ron won't shut up about her befriending Zabini's daughter. I think the girl is quite nice," replied Hermione smiling.

"Imagine reading about Al and Scorp's building friendship," he said rather amused.

"Scorp's?"

"That's Albus' fault. He's always writing the kid's name in its abbreviated form, it stuck with me," responded Harry with a shrug. "It also seems that Nott's girl, Lizzy, is a force to be reckoned with. He won't stop describing the things she does or say."

"Oh, I think there's an 'early crush' alert on. How did Ginny take it?" asked Hermione.

"She was laughing harder than me, I think. I wish he would write less about her for a change. I've got nothing against the girl, but sometimes I feel like I know her better than I know my own daughter. He describes every single detail."

"Oh, but it's so cute! If Rosie described a boy, especially one with a Slytherin father, Ron would go through the roof," she said giggling. "Actually make it any boy who isn't a relative. He's rather possessive."

"Tell me about it! Remember in our fourth year…"

The two best friends soon got carried away with reminisces of their time at Hogwarts and the things they'd done. The moon was clearly visible in the night sky by the time they had finished their chatter. Since she married Ron, she had had only one best friend left – Harry, and she missed his 24/7 presence in her life. Marriage had changed both relations, with Ron it got more complex, sex and attraction being involved, while with Harry it felt like nothing could severe their bond. It was a friendship she'd made for life and she was very grateful for that.

Unknown to her, the husband she'd chosen was at that moment sharing the bed of another woman. Karin was still trying to make him lose control and forget about the anti-pregnancy charm. Her plan hadn't been too fruitful, but she felt confident that soon she was going to get what she strived for.

* * *

**Explanation of some things that might be confusing:**

**1. **About Teddy's living arrangements. Harry gave him a flat as a Hogwarts graduation gift, but most often than not he eats at the Potters', Weasleys' or at his grandmother's home. Since he's training to become an auror he's rather busy, so he uses the flat mostly for sleeping, showering and making love to his girlfriend.

**2. **Please, do not mistake auror [Mick] Trowler for the Towler family, which consists of Kenneth and Patricia Towler and their children: Sebastian (Ravenclaw, 13), Patience (Gryffindor, 13) and Silvester (Gryffindor, 11).

**A quick poll for entertainment purposes:**

_If you were to be an animagus, which animal would you like to turn into?_

A) A panther  
B) A wolf  
C) A panda  
D) Other. Let me know!

Please review!


	8. Of exhausting matches and plans

**Author's Notes:  
**  
As I have promised to some of you, as soon as I finished writing the 15th chapter, I would be updating the story. And here it is – the seventh chapter.

Thank you for reading my story, putting it on alert, adding it to your favourites and reviewing.

**Here are some things that were brought to my attention in your reviews and their explanation:**

by _NanaHassan _– the story being rather detailed. The first year is the base for any further development, hence the details. As I wrote in the prologue, the story will describe the academic years of Al and co, inside and outside of Hogwarts. There will also be an epilogue; I have already got some thoughts about its contents.

by _LillyMay77_ – Ron's affair. Well, as I wrote earlier, he's not my favourite character, far from it. But neither do I hate him. Thus, at the moment he seems a bit of a bad guy, but in the end, everything will somehow be put into its right place. And here is a little hint: things will get worse before they get better. Life is like that…

Enjoy the new chapter!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no profit from this work of art. However, I do own the plot and some OCs.

* * *

**Chapter 7. Of exhausting matches and spontaneous plans**

It was 18 November and the Great Hall was bursting with tension and excitement. The first Quidditch match of the year was to be held: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. A certain James Potter and his cousins, Fred and Louis, were rather pale and a bit green-ish at the gills.

"Potter, I told you to eat," chastised the team's captain, Gideon Truman. "I want you to have enough energy, so we can beat the Slytherins this year. You are very good on a broom, so what the hell are you trembling for?"

"Gid, give him some credit. The boy is 12 and it's his first match," Edeline Fleet tried to make him see reason.

The chaser's best friend, Dom, was nodding in agreement. "Gideon, take it easy on my little cousin here. Louis, stop sulking and have some pumpkin juice."

"Easy for you to say," mumbled Louis, "it is not you who's going to be playing in front of hundreds of students."

"My chasers are pussy-cats," complained the seeker to his best friend, Edward Kits. "I bet my sister hasn't got the same trouble with her chasers on the Hufflepuff team."

The team's beater shook his head. "Mate, your sister is scary, so even if she has got problems with them, one look from her and they're dead. Gabrielle is the harshest woman I've ever met."

"Edward, you do realise you're saying that you're scared of your own girlfriend and you are a Gryffindor. Where is your male pride?" wondered Gideon.

"Have you met your sister? If yes, that question of yours is irrelevant. But I do love her, and like a true 'puff, she's the most committed and giving person I've ever met. How you two are siblings, I'll never understand," said Edward. "Now, stop calling your players pussy-cats and good for nothing, and cheer them up."

"Alright, alright. James, you are really good, you've got Quidditch in your blood. Fred, the same goes for you," he tried to reassure the cousins. "Louis, you know what to do with a quaffle and boy, you don't need to think about the others watching. Look at those girls over there; they're admiring you as it is."

As he turned his head, Louis saw three girls, hurdled together, and indeed they were watching him. As he caught their looks, they started giggling and blushing. It seemed that the veela genes he possessed were enough to attract older girls.

"Yeah, I guess you are right," agreed Louis.

"Good, now, let's find our keeper," thought the captain out loud. He turned towards Dom and gave her an inquisitive look. "Where is that boyfriend of yours?"

"I do not know," she replied. "I'm not his assistant."

"You know I didn't mean it like that," said Gideon. "Oh. Hi, Tory!"

"Hello, Gideon," saluted the girl in response. "I came to wish good luck to my cousins and my brother."

"Thanks, Vic," said the latter and rose from the table to hug his eldest sister.

"Yeah, thank you, Tory," added Fred. James simply nodded smiling at her.

As Tory started asking them about the upcoming match, Paul and Karsten approached the group.

"Were have you been?" the Gryffindor seeker asked his keeper. "We've been waiting for you for ages!"

"I was just discussing some matters with our commentator, here," replied Karsten, pointing at the second year near him. "I asked him to put in a good word for us during introductions, you know, to enlighten the atmosphere and encourage us. I'm aware that it's going to be a bit tense."

"Good thinking, K," complimented his girlfriend, as she went to hug him. "Good luck and please, no more broken arms and ribs!"

"Alright, I'll pay more attention to those bloody bludgers," he promised.

"Language, Mr Wood," admonished the Head Girl teasingly, "you don't want me deducting points, do you? And don't forget that you're a Prefect, what kind of example are you setting for the younger generations?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, future Mrs Lupin," Karsten replied cheekily.

"I see you want to play dirty," said Victoire, "well, two can play that game. Want me to remind you of your face when you met our father this summer? I could make him come to a match to refresh your memory."

The boy's eyes widened and he madly shook his head. The well-built William Weasley and his scarred face made him tremble. He also understood what his girlfriend's father meant by saying that he was a third (and last) level curse breaker at Gringotts – if Karsten hurt his daughter, someone would hurt him, physically. "No need. I have a very good memory. I got the hint."

Tory smiled at the keeper's reaction. It was quite humorous watching just how frightened Dom and her admirers got when facing Bill Weasley. She vividly remembered the bright magenta colour her own boyfriend sported when her father gave him the 'dad to boyfriend' talk. It was something like "_Ted, I really like you. I've known you since infancy and your parents for quite some time. Now, I do not care that you're practically family when it comes to my daughter's heart. If you as much as make her sad or, Merlin forbid it, cry, some physical pain will be inflicted. Am I understood?_" Teddy's response was a quick nod and a prompt "_Yes, sir_" which still made her giggle. And of course, as a true gentleman, Ted kept his promise; she'd never been as happy.

About half an hour until breakfast would be finished, Al and Rosie approached their family at the Gryffindor table, Scorpius tailing after them.

"Hey, James! Good luck," Al wished his brother and then turned towards his cousins. "You, too. Break a leg!"

"Thanks, Alby. I'll make sure to wipe that smirk off of your housemates' faces," promised the older Potter.

Everybody rolled their eyes; James would always have a bragging syndrome. Rose went to Louis and hugged him and then did the same with the other two players. "As Al said, good luck!"

With that, the three first years left to join their housemates at the respective house viewing stands. The two Slytherins quickly found their friends and took the seats Liz and Ambrose had saved for them.

"Who do you reckon is most likely to win?" asked Cian seated in the row bellow Scorp.

"Well, of course I'd like us to win, our team seems really good. But I don't know what the Gryffindor one is like," replied the young Malfoy.

"I can vouch that my relatives are really good and Wood and Fleet, as well. They played with us during summer," Al informed everybody. "And according to Ted, Gideon Truman is a superb seeker. I've no idea about Kits."

"Well, Truman should be good at being a seeker; it seems to be a family trait or something," Ambrose pondered aloud. "I mean, his sister, is also a seeker and captain of the 'puff team. I've heard that the other Truman, Reuben or something, has tried for the beater position, but Gabrielle gave it to somebody else, who's supposed to be even better. Harsh, I'd say."

"I think that the no favouritism policy in Quidditch is one step closer to a better team," said Liz in a no-nonsense tone.

"Sensible words, Miss Nott," said a deep voice from somewhere behind them, "very true, I'd say."

Albus, recognising the voice, quickly turned his head and his eyes met their counterparts. "Dad, what are you doing here?"

"Aren't you happy to see me, kid?" asked the Chosen One. Al grinned and those around him had their jaw hit the floor with astonishment.

"Of course I am! I just didn't expect to see you here," explained the boy, standing up and hugging his father, who was one row behind him.

"I would've never missed James' first match. And I thought that I'd enjoy the game with my other son than on my own," replied Harry. "I missed you, Al. Lily is also sulking that she has nobody to cause bedlam with."

The young Potter smiled at the thought of his sweet, but quirky sister. "Missed you too, dad. Tell Lily that she hasn't got much time to wait until coming here."

"She knows that. She's counting the days till her 11th birthday. And then you'll all leave your mother and me," he said petulantly.

"Oh, dad. Don't worry, we'll visit," tried the boy to make his father feel better.

"I'm joking, kid. Now, how about you introduce me to your friends before the match starts?"

Al remembered that his friends were still around him waiting for an introduction. Some of them seemed to be awestruck. "Well, people this is my father, Harry Potter. Dad, these are Scorp, Lizzy, Ambrose, Thea, Cain, Caoimhe, Trina, Lara and that is Zared Smith," Albus introduced his housemates pointing at each of them when mentioning their name.

"Nice to meet you. Al has told me lots of things about you," said the Head Auror.

"You're Harry Potter," said Thea with a daydreaming expression on her face.

Harry chuckled and nodded. "You were right, Al; Luna would love her."

"Nice to meet you, Mr Potter," said Lizzy, extending her arm. He shook her hand and smiled. Now he understood why his son was so taken with the girl. She was going to become a beautiful young lady, and her having a strong personality added to her charm.

"It's my pleasure, Miss Nott."

Following Elizabeth's example, Scorp and Ambrose also shook the former Gryffindor's hand and the others just politely nodded towards him. The young Malfoy felt a bit apprehensive when it came to his father's former rival, so he didn't really know what he was supposed to say, but the eldest Potter caught this and smiled encouragingly at the boy, as if to say 'everything is alright'.

"Dad, does James know that you're here?"

"No, he doesn't. If he knew I was here, he'd be even more nervous than I'm certain he already is," answered Harry. "It's going to be a surprise for him at the end of the match. I'm going to cheer for him, without him knowing."

"If I may remark, Harry Potter, sir, won't it be strange for you to cheer for a Gryffindor from the stands of the other playing team?" asked Lizzy, quirking a perfectly shaped dark-copper eyebrow.

"Oh, I haven't thought about this," he responded, "but who cares? It's more fun this way."

"I like your way of thinking, Mr Potter," said the girl with a pondering look and the turned towards Albus, "Al, your dad is cool."

The boy in question wanted to say something in return, but he didn't have the chance to, for the commentator, Paul Jordan, started greeting the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, today the Hogwarts Quidditch season has officially begun!"

A big roar of cheering and clapping followed the second year's statement. Some pupils even let out from their wands sparks sporting the colour of their house.

"The first match is between Gryffindor and Slytherin," he continued, "and here they are. This year representing the proud lions are captain and seeker – the incredible Gideon Truman, beaters – fierce Edward Kits and Fred Weasley, chasers – fast as the wind Edeline Fleet, Louis Weasley and James Potter, and keeper extraordinaire – Karsten Wood. I'd say some of them are already famous."

As each person was introduced, they would fly on the pitch on their new _Thunder-light_ brooms accompanied by the hailing crowd. As luck would have it, most of them had their own high-performance brooms, the only one who didn't was Edward, but two days before the match he received one from his friends on his birthday. Kits was quite certain that it was Gideon who proposed the broom as a gift, and he loved his present.

"And here comes the Slytherin team," Paul went on to introduce them, "with captain and seeker Tony Higgs, keeper – Pierre-Henri de Conoiseur, beaters – Maude and Derek Pucey, and chasers Randolph Hilliard, Ansel Montague and Leticia Higgs."

The lack of description for the second team wasn't lost on anybody and the Deputy Headmaster, who was supervising Paul's comments, threw him a warning look.

Harry shook his head smiling. 'Like father, like son. Some things never change.'

Madam Hooch then made the captains shake their hands, reminded them of the games' rules and highlighted twice that she expected a fair game. She proceeded to let out the bludgers and the golden snitch. After that, she threw the quaffle into the air signalling the start of the match.

"And the match begins! The quaffle is caught by Fleet, she passes by Montague, the quaffle is Weasley's, and again Fleet's, -Weasley's, - Fleet's; they're going to the hoops. She is going to throw, but no- Potter takes it and he throws, Conoiseur caught it, Slytherins are cheering," said Paul, whilst those from the scarlet and gold stands were making disappointed noises.

"The quaffle is Hilliard's, Higgs', Montague's, it's the Hawkshead Attacking Formation," announced Paul. Karsten knowing what to expect from such a move went in front of all three goal hoops, however in the last moment – "the Formation disbanded, Higgs has the quaffle, she's throwing it, Wood advances to catch it, but Hilliard's intercepts and to Montague – GOAL!" The frenzied crowd roars, while the lions shook their head with dejection. "That was an unexpected move, the Slytherins seem to have some tricks up their sleeves; you have to give them that. 10-0 for Slytherin."

Scorp was really impressed with the chaser's thinking and the team's strategy. He knew that the HAF was a typical Slytherin move, but the captain seems to have played on everybody's presumptions; spontaneity was the key.

"Potter has the quaffle, he's going for the hoops, Hilliard tries to take it, Potter avoids him, it seems like he's going to throw it, he does throw it but over his shoulder to Fleet and she SCORES! It's 10-10 now. Nice reverse pass, Potter," complimented Paul, and Harry agreed that his son was really good.

The time flew by even faster than the players on their _Thunder-lights_. One hour had already passed and no sight of the snitch. The score was 90-70 in Gryffindor's favour; Wood was an excellent keeper indeed.

"Higgs is reaching for the quaffle and oh, that must've hurt like hell!" – the bludger almost ripped her arm off – "Fred, if I were you, I'd look out, her brother doesn't seem too impressed," Paul advised his best friend.

Al looked at the Slytherin captain and the seventh year had a murderous look on his face. Anybody who knew Tony Prentice Higgs would know not to mess with his beloved younger sister, not that she needed protection. Although her arm was in a great deal of pain, she did her best to ignore it and continued playing with even more force, from where she took the energy to do so was an enigma to Albus.

"Higgs has the quaffle, another bludger her way, but no, she performs the Sloth Grip Roll! The quaffle is Hilliards and he SCORES! It's 90-80 for Gryffindor."

After another two hours or so, the score was 210-130, Slytherin in the lead. Seven out of the last 13 goals were because of Leticia's fierce playing; Karsten wasn't prepared for the ferocious harpy's attacks, he didn't stand a chance. After her seventh goal, he remembered his mother once saying never to underestimate a girl's power, especially when she was pissed off.

James wasn't prepared for this. More than three hours of flying back and forth, dodging bludgers and all the tricks they had been using to score was way too much, not to mention that it was cold. He felt one of his legs go numb, while his knuckles turned white from gripping the broom's handle so tightly. Also he was thirsty and even a bit nauseous; he knew he shouldn't have eaten at breakfast. He prayed to the Heavens for the game to end. Even some of the more experienced players were quite exhausted and Paul's voice turned a bit hoarse due to all the yelling and commentaries he'd been making.

'This isn't good. James and other players seem really tired,' thought Harry. 'Where is that bloody snitch?'

Most of the viewers were wondering exactly the same thing. Al thought he'd seen it once or twice, but he might have mistaken it for something else.

Gideon caught the snitch's glimmer behind the Gryffindor's goal posts, but he was on the other side of the pitch. So, as to not let Higgs notice it as well, he started slowly advancing towards his team's scoring area, giving the impression that he was simply perusing the territory. As he did that, the snitch was going in circles around the goal posts and it seemed that his prayers had been answered, for it started moving in his direction and then towards one of the stands.

'The score is 230-140, so if I do catch it now, we will win,' thought the seeker. And with all his might he lunged for the golden snitch. Higgs was too far away, but he still went for it. After chasing it for about three minutes, Gideon finally caught the problematic tiny winged ball as Hilliard scored once again, taking opportunity of Karsten's distracted attention.

"Gryffindor wins with 290-240! Congratulations!" exclaimed Paul bouncing in his seat with joy. And he wasn't the only one; all the Gryffindors were jumping up and down. However, the oddest thing was a cheering grown-up person amidst the sea of green and silver. Still in the air, James noticed it was his father and made his way towards the Slytherin stands.

"Dad! You've been watching me!" he exclaimed.

"Of course James! You were brilliant, son!" said the oldest Potter, and it seemed to be the right words to say, for James was beaming with joy at being praised by his father.

"Yeah, yeah. James was good, but we lost," complained his brother.

"Do not worry, Al. Next year, you'll try out for the house's team and believe me you'll wipe the floor with all the other ones," said Lizzy confident of Al's seeker abilities even if she had never seen him play; Rose's praising words were all the evidence she needed. The girl's statement made Al a bit rosy in the cheeks.

"Right!" commented James sarcastically. "Dad, I'll see you later, won't I? I'm knackered."

"Of course, James. You should check your right elbow as well," suggested his father. "That bump you'd got must hurt a lot."

"Yeah… See you!" With that, James flew away towards his team's changing rooms.

Everybody started leaving the Quidditch stands for the Great Hall, where warm and delicious food would be waiting for them. Al was trailing behind with his father emerged in a conversation, so Scorpius had to leave with the other Slytherins. As he went to the castle, he saw Rose and other Weasleys approach their uncle, all of them talking loudly and sometimes laughing. He wished he was a part of such a big and warm family. His own family was quite loving and doting, but his cousins weren't as supportive or welcoming. Dione hadn't talked much to him since the start of the term, one of the occasions being her birthday and more than two months had passed since then.

About 20 minutes later, Al joined his housemates at the Slytherin table. "Hey, I've talked to my dad and guess what? He gave me the permission to have you stay at my house, while James is at nana's with Fred and Paul. It's going to be from 26 till 30 December. So do you want to come?" the delighted boy asked Scorpius, Lizzy, Ambrose and Thea. "Rose is going to be there, so Tristan, Amorette and Sierra could also come if they want to."

"I'd like to," said Lizzy, "just let me write to my parents and ask them, I'm sure Tristan won't mind going."

Next to her, Ambrose and Thea nodded, saying that they would have to ask their folks.

"That would be awesome, Al," replied Scorpius. "I'm sure father will be alright with it. But is there going to be enough space for all of us?"

"Of course! If the entire Weasley/Potter clan could fit in there, why won't we?" responded the green-eyed boy, his eyes full of excitement.

'Some wishes do come true,' thought Scorp and smiled at his friends.

* * *

**Explanation of some things that might be confusing:**

**1. **I know that parents aren't allowed to come to Hogwarts when they please. They need special permission from the staff of Hogwarts. However, they can attend events like Quidditch and the seventh year students' graduation. In the second book, Lucius Malfoy was present for his son's first match, so I can't see why Harry wouldn't do the same.

**A quick poll for entertainment purposes:**

_Who is your favourite character out of the Golden Trio?_

A) Harry  
B) Hermione  
C) Ron. Let me know!

**My own answer to the previous poll: **I would like to have a panther for my animagus form. I know it's not too practical, since you don't see panthers wandering around UK, but it's still my favourite animal.

Please review!


	9. Of former enemies and daughters

**Author's Notes:  
**  
So here it is – the eighth chapter.

I'm so grateful to all of you for reading my story, putting it on alert, adding it to your favourites and reviewing.

And now the story has got an image as well, thanks to the talented **charmontez **(from deviantArt)!

Enjoy the new chapter!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no profit from this work of art. However, I do own the plot and some OCs. The image belongs to **charmontez**.

* * *

**Chapter 8. Of former enemies and daughters**

On 23 December, Hogwarts resembled an artist's dream: a medieval castle surrounded by acres of snow drifts, the calm dark loch like a stain in the midst of the vast whiteness; an endless forest on the school's border; a bright blue sky and children, joyful children laughing, playing in the snow or going towards the Hogsmeade Station. Some would take carriages, while others preferred walking. What could've been better than so beautiful a painting in watercolour on a canvas?

Nine first years, wrapped in their winter cloaks over their robes, were admiring the view, as the carriage pulled by the infamous Thestrals neared the train station. The scarlet coloured Hogwarts Express was already there, ready to leave in about 30 minutes. The group were currently discussing their up-coming plans to stay over at the Potters'.

"Although James is going to be at nana's, Lily will still be at home," announced Al, "but, she's cool, so don't worry. She won't bother us much."

"If Lily is going to be there, then I bet my brother will want to come as well," said Rose, rubbing her gloved hands together as to warm them. For a reason or another, she always got cold hands. Seeing this Amorette, being near her, took the red-head's hands and started warming them with her own. "Thanks, Amor," whispered Rosie.

"You're welcome, Rosie," replied Amorette. "And I don't think that your siblings being there will to be a problem. From what I gathered, your house is quite big, and it will easily fit all of us."

"Yes, it is quite big," confirmed Albus. "It's a pity you can't come, Sierra."

"Yeah, I really wanted to be with you, guys. But mama wants to visit nonna in Genoa, and I couldn't possibly travel alone from there to London," mumbled the girl dejectedly. She genuinely looked forward to spending some time with her friends.

"I've been to Genoa once," said Thea with her soft voice. "The city is really impressing and its history is so rich. I heard there are lots of vampires in that area, but I hadn't met one during my journey. And near the seaside, there is a hidden cave. Some say a goddess once lived there and her magic still resides in the rocks."

"I've never heard of such a cave when my family and I travelled through Italy," said Lizzy, her voice reflecting her scepticism of the other girl's words.

"It doesn't really matter, Liz," Tristan subtly chided his sister. "And the bit about vampires is true; we've met one ourselves."

Seeing Elizabeth's embarrassment and indignation at being told off by her brother, Al changed the subject, remarking that they were near the station and that they should prepare. Lizzy's tone made her comment seem a bit vicious, but he knew she didn't want to hurt Thea's feelings, it just came out wrong. He was sure that Thea was aware of that as well, as she took no offence. When they descended, Albus saw Liz take the blue-eyed girl's hand and squeeze it as if apologising. They were Slytherins, and asking forgiveness was a rather uncommon phenomenon. The girl squeezed Miss Nott's hand in return.

Once inside a compartment, Rose took out a potions book and made herself comfortable in the cushioned seat, Amorette and her brother quietly discussed what they should buy for their parents, Sierra and Thea told each other some of the unusual things they'd seen or heard, while Al, Scorp and the Nott twins played _Exploding Snap_. The journey back to London was much more relaxed than the one to Hogwarts, when they all were fretting over the house they'd be sorted in.

A bit later, different acquaintances and relatives would go in and out to greet the first years or wish them a merry Christmas. James and his friends' visit was possibly the most irritating, for they had dropped some _Nasty Seeds_ on their way out. These seeds were some of the newest _WWW_ products and as soon as they touched solid ground they would start growing very fast and if no measures were taken, they could evolve into a veritable jungle with ferns and all.

Fortunately, just half of the compartment was full of greenery when Dom slid the door open. The counter-action to the spell put on the seeds was far above a first year's capabilities, even one's whose name is Rose Weasley. Dominique quickly took care of it.

"It was Jammed and Fried, was it not?" she asked. A simple eye roll from Scorpius was all the confirmation she needed, so she took off to find James and his good for nothing friends, muttering something akin to "New Marauders, my arse!"

"They're going to be in lots of trouble," said Al, holding no sympathy in his voice at all.

"They definitely deserve it," muttered Liz, trying to untangle her copper locks. "Were it not for your cousin, we would've been strangled to death. That stupid liana! It completely messed my hair."

Seeing her desperation, both Tristan and Albus started helping her. Some ten minutes later, her hair returned to its initial state.

"Thank you, guys," said the girl cheerfully. "How come you're so good at it, Al? I understand Tristan, he's done this before, but you? Your hair might be messy, but not long enough to get tangled."

The boy in question blushed and suddenly found his shoes rather interesting. "I like combing my sister's hair after she'd wash it. It is really long and she isn't patient enough to comb it thoroughly without pulling out half of it."

"Oh, how cute!" cooed all the girls, except Rosie, for she'd known about that for a long time. Al even sometimes combed her hair. The boys, however, sniggered at the young Potter's blatant embarrassment.

"I wish my brother was as considerate as you," sighed Amor, and the other Italian girl nodded in agreement.

"All Manolo is good at with his fingers is holding that stupid beater's bat," complained Sierra.

"Mabel, what are whining about? You don't let anybody touch your hair, saying that it is sacred or something," Ambrose asked his sister, referring to her by her middle name. The remark made the boys laugh so hard they were actually struggling to catch their breath.

"I said that only to you, Prince! You were trying to cut it with gardening scissors, for Merlin's sake!" Amor yelled over the boys' guffaws.

"Prince?" inquired Rose intrigued about their friend's nickname.

"That's his middle name. No wonder he's so conceited. A perfect Slytherin," replied his sister, still upset with him for making her seem vain.

"Well, better Prince than Severus," mumbled Al. "Albus Severus sounds like a 100 year old man's name."

"Well, mate, about the time you get 100 years old, you'll feel completely comfortable with it," said Scorp smirking. "I, for one, will never come to terms with being Scorpius. I keep on imagining that tiny animal with pliers." His visions made everybody chuckle and they started discussing the unusual and dreadful names they'd ever heard of.

* * *

Astoria Malfoy indisputably was a beautiful and gracious woman. She was also quite a skilled liar. "Tracey, I'm telling you that Draco knows that I'm pregnant, I'm just asking you not to mention it to anybody as it's still too early. You're the healer; you know what the first three months are like better than I do."

"I just want to make sure that the both of you are aware of the risks you're submitting to by being pregnant," replied Healer Boot. "And I hope you remember from your former pregnancy, no apparating after your 16th week."

"Don't worry about that. We know. Now, tell me how Tara and Darren are doing," the younger woman tried to change the subject. "They should be 12 and 10 years old, right?"

"Oh yes! Tara, just like Terry, is a Ravenclaw. She's so bright, that little one," Tracey responded, the enormous love for her children reflected in her warm brown eyes. "And Darren is all the time on a broom. I think he's going to be a Slytherin, he's got too much mischievousness to be placed in Ravenclaw. How is your Scorpius doing?"

"He's just fine. Imagine his best friends are Potter's second kid, Blaise and Theo's twins! He's also all the time with Granger's girl and someone called Thea and Sierra. What a bunch!"

Tracey chuckled. She remembered her daughter informing her in the letter she'd sent that a Potter had been sorted into Slytherin. Her husband, who knew Potter quite well, was completely shocked. Mrs Boot herself found the situation rather hilarious. "Yes, quite an interesting group."

"Well, I'd better go. I have to meet Draco at King's Cross to take our little boy and Daphne's girl home," said Astoria and kissed her healer's cheeks.

"I wish I could go, but my shift doesn't end until 9 in the evening. Terry's shift was yesterday, so he is the one meeting Tara at the station," said Tracey and bid farewell to her former housemate.

* * *

As soon as she got off the train, Elizabeth ran towards her father, her friends trailing after her. "Daddy, daddy!" She was definitely a daddy's girl. And judging by his expression, she was the apple in his eye. As she went to hug him, the tall man lifted his princess and kissed her forehead.

"I've missed you, my little Lizzy," he said smiling. "And daddy has got a welcome gift for you! I've found a brilliant puppet master and he made Yoko not only unbreakable but also able to dance."

After hearing his father's words, Tristan turned towards his friends minus Thea and Sierra (they had already left to find their parents) and threw them an 'I told you so' look; their father would indeed do the impossible for Elizabeth. Ambrose shot him a 'tell me about it' look in return, gesturing with his head towards his own father hugging Amor and kissing her 'sacred' hair.

Harry Potter, watching his former classmates, felt sympathetic. He knew that he'd miss his own daughter once she left for Hogwarts. It didn't matter that they were Slytherins or Gryffindors, these fathers were putty in their daughters' little hands. However, what did seem mind-boggling to the Chosen One was Elizabeth's character. From Al's letters he had gathered that the girl had a bubbly personality, the scene before him confirming that. But she could also be manipulative and sarcastic in true Slytherin style, as well as talk and behave like an adult. That girl was a walking controversy.

'I will never understand Slytherins,' he concluded. 'I'd say they're a bunch of weirdoes, but with my son being one of them, it's not an option.' With that thought in mind he started walking towards the first years gathered around Nott and Zabini's family, taking Ginny with him. As he approached them, he saw Hermione, who had just apparated, following him and Malfoy with his wife having just passed through the barrier and going towards his own son.

"Nott, Zabini, Malfoy," Harry greeted them with a nod, receiving one in return from each of them.

"Potter, Mrs Potter, Madam Weasley," said Blaise. Hermione, as she always did, blushed at being referred to as 'Madam'. She'd been the Head of DMLE for more than three years and yet, she couldn't get used to it.

"Good evening," she said in return, turning her head from the head of the Level 7 Department, to Theo and then to the Senior Unspeakable Draco Malfoy and his spouse. The woman was gleaming. If Hermione didn't know any better, she'd say that Astoria was sporting a pregnant woman's glow.

Liz, ever the observant one, just like her friends, felt the tension between their parents. She knew she had to intervene. "Daddy, this is Harry Potter! We're going to stay at his and Mrs Potter's house after Christmas."

Unconsciously, Theo smiled at his daughter's light mood. Since he wasn't used to having her so far away from him, Elizabeth made him smile with anything she'd say or do. "Yes, Lizzy. I'm aware of that."

"Are you sure you'll manage to keep an eye on all of them?" Blaise asked the Potters, smirking.

"Don't worry, Zabini. We'll take great care of them and supervise that they don't destroy the house in the meantime," answered Ginny smirking in return.

Beside her husband, Mia Zabini giggled. "Hopefully, at the end of this holiday we won't be receiving cheques stating damage repairing."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Mia," said Astoria. Her smile made her even more beatific than she already was. She turned towards the two thirds of the Golden Trio. "You do have a Quidditch mini-pitch somewhere near the house, don't you?"

"Yes, we do," replied Harry. He had expanded the Black's garden quite a bit to allow his children and nephews and nieces play Quidditch whenever they stayed at 12 Grimmauld Place.

"Well then, should they use the floo to go to your house?" asked Draco.

"Yes the floo, would be preferable, but I will come to take each of them to my place. It's unplottable and heavily warded; they wouldn't be able to find it without me personally taking them there," the eldest Potter responded.

"Unplottable? Nice, Potter," complimented Blaise with a grin. "Let me guess, not even those from the Ministry know where it is."

"No, they don't," was Harry's response, a smile of his own making its way on his face.

"Custom travelling is good enough for us," said Theodore. "I will send you the address and adjust the floo so you'll be able to come in." Near him, his former housemates nodded in agreement, promising to do the same. "At what hour is this so-called party starting?"

"I'll be coming to collect them in the morning, let's say 11. Is it convenient for you?" inquired Harry.

"Perfect, Potter," Draco answered for them all.

The woman, who was holding Theo's hand, asked what all the mothers wanted to know: "I know it's some kind of a slumber party, but they will be staying for four days, so should we prepare some food or the like?"

"Thank you, but it's not needed. Hermione and I will prepare all the food. Just don't forget to put in their bags some change of clothes and brooms, if they have one. My nephews tend to take the spare ones and they haven't returned them yet, and we don't want anybody sulking or something" said Ginny smiling kindly.

"Well, it sounds like a plan. We should be going," announced Draco and bid everybody farewell, as his son did the same with his friends. Malfoy shrunk and pocketed Scorpius' luggage, took his hand and that of Astoria and they disapparated.

The former two Slytherins did the same and soon the only ones left were Harry, Ginny, Hermione and their children.

"That was fun," commented the latter, and they all started laughing.

"Where's James, Al?" asked Harry.

"He, Fred and Paul had been hiding from Dom the last time I saw them," he replied.

"What did they do?" demanded Ginny, her joyful expression turning murderous.

"You'd better ask what they didn't do, aunt Ginny," said Rosie, "the list would be much shorter."

"Those boys are such troublemakers," complained Ginny.

"Well, James and Fred definitely live up to their namesakes," remarked Hermione. She thanked the Heavens that her daughter wasn't one to break rules on a daily basis. Her son, however, was another story.

"Thank you for your empathetic feelings, Hermione," her best friend said sarcastically, but his gentle voice soothed the mean edge to her words. "We'd better go find James. See you at the Burrow and say hello to Ron." He and his wife hugged her, while Al's cousin kissed him on the cheek. They left in search of the other Potter, Harry pushing the cart with Albus' trunk on it.

"Speaking of daddy, where is he?" Rose asked her mother. She didn't want to admit it, but she was a bit jealous of Liz and Amor when their fathers hugged and kissed them, treating them like princesses. She didn't want to be the only one whose father didn't even come meet her.

"A good question, love. Perhaps he was held at work."

Hermione was actually quite peeved by Ron's absence. She told him to be there at 6 pm, but it seemed that he forgot – a common occurrence in the last two months or so. She wondered what was happening to him, for he didn't pick up Hugo from Molly's when he was supposed to, neither did he accompany her to Diagon Alley for the usual Christmas shopping as he had promised. 'Midlife crisis, perhaps?'

"Let's go Rosie. Hugo is waiting for you," her mother said with a bright smile. She took her daughters hand, put the shrunken trunk in her bag and apparated the both of them to their home.

* * *

"Yes, yes! Harder!" exclaimed Karin passionately underneath her lover. She hadn't distracted him enough to have unprotected (by charms) sex, but it didn't mean that she wouldn't enjoy it either way.

With his next thrust, she climaxed and he soon followed after, riding their exhilaration together.

"Oh, I love Saturdays!" said the woman in his arms. "This way we can stay in bed from dawn till sunset, without anybody disturbing us."

"Yes, Saturdays are nice," mumbled Ron, his body still euphoric after the violent release he'd just had.

Karin started rambling about something, and he didn't really care enough to listen to all of it. However something did catch his attention. "What have you just said?"

"I said that I bought a beautiful dress from a muggle shop near Oxford Street Station," she repeated.

"Oh," he said disinterested.

"Yes, love," she giggled.

And then it clicked. "King's Cross Station!" he exclaimed jumping naked out of the bed. "I had to meet Rose today. How late is it?"

"It's 10 pm, darling. Don't worry, what's the big deal?" asked Karin watching him getting dressed.

"Hermione will suspect something, that's the big deal!"

"Oh, then tell her you were busy at work," she suggested.

"Yeah, I could do that. Hopefully, Harry didn't mention anything about me to her," he said, putting on his cloak. "I love you!"

"I love you, too!" she said. "See you," but he had already left.

'That bitch,' she cursed in her mind. 'He forgot about his own daughter, so this means that my plan is working. Slow steps, they say, have a better result in the end…'

* * *

**Explanation of some things that might be confusing:**

**1.** Nonna from Italian means nana or grandmother.

**2. **Genoa is a real city in Italy, a rather beautiful one.

**3. **Manolo is Sierra's brother, who is a 4th year Ravenclaw and a beater for his house team.

**4. **Although in the 8th film, Lily was depicted by an actress with short hair, I think that long hair would suit her character much better.

**A quick poll for entertainment purposes:**

_Who is your favourite Marauder?_

A) Sirius Black  
B) James Potter  
C) John Lupin  
D) Petter Pettigrew (although he doesn't deserve to have his name listed here). Let me know!

**My own answer to the previous poll: **My favourite character out of the Golden Trio is Hermione! She's brilliant, devoted, loyal, witty, honest, a bit mischievous, isn't quick to judge people (Luna is an exception, but she did get like her) and knows how to stand for herself. Love her! And Harry comes as a close second.

Please review!


	10. Of magic and warmth

**Author's Notes:  
**  
Here is the ninth chapter.

Thank you for reading my story, putting it on alert and adding it to your favourites!

Enjoy the new chapter!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no profit from this work of art. However, I do own the plot and some OCs. The image belongs to **charmontez**.

* * *

**Chapter 9. Of magic and warmth**

A certain boy with green eyes and black messy hair had his chin on the edge of his room's windowsill. For quite some time now, he had been wondering what his friend, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, was doing. 'Is he opening his gifts or having tea in one of the Manor's drawing rooms? Do they have a special room or something for such occasions?'

"Al!" shouted his brother. "Open the door! I've received the best gift ever and you have to see it!"

Albus sighed and crossed to the other side of his room to open the door. "What is it, James?"

"I just got a customised superfast broom with the signature from-," for some reason he didn't continue. "What in Godric's name has happened to your room?"

"That's our parents' gift for me," replied Al, opening the door wider so his brother could admire all of it.

The walls were of a dark rich green with silver intricate ornaments, and attached to them were wall candelabras that looked like something borrowed from Versailles rather than the 21st century. There was a king sized four-poster bed standing near the large windows. The sheets on the bed were made of black silk, while the hangings around the bed were silver, sporting the same ornaments the walls did, however these ones were forest green. On the opposite side of the room was a rococo writing table made of African ebony, with a black and ivory Victorian lamp shade on it. Not far from it, in the corner, stood another piece of furniture made of ebony, a French wardrobe. James also observed that the floor was covered with Mountain Grey Gum hardwood, which made the room seem more spacious. And he just earned to touch the black shag rug, above which, hanging from the ceiling, was a chandelier matching the lamp on the table.

"What the bloody hell is this?" he asked astonished.

"Language, Jamie," Al admonished him teasingly, "we do not want mum to hear what foul words her little son knows, now do we? As for the room redecoration, I told you that it was my Christmas gift from our parents."

"So this is the real reason why you had to stay with nana," said James with a thoughtful look, at which Albus rolled his eyes. "I knew the story about it being infested with doxies was unlikely to be true."

"Your powers of deduction amaze me," mocked Al, "you most certainly have to become a detective."

"Shut up, Alby," James growled. "And what is with these decorations stolen from a museum?"

"I actually like it very much, thank you."

"You cannot be serious!" gasped his brother. "Slytherins have brainwashed you!"

"First, I'm not Sirius, your middle name is and I'm just occupying the original's brother's room. Second, I'm a Slytherin myself, what's your problem?" Al asked with a bored look.

"That pun is overrated!"

"Is that all you've gathered from what I said?" the green-eyed boy lifted a quizzical brow.

"Four months in Slytherin and you're completely different," James stated incredulously.

"James, dear brother of mine, the only thing that has changed is me not getting riled up by your 'witty' comments. Now, please, stop pestering me about my house and my room. Whose signature is on that broom of yours?"

"It belongs to the seeker of Puddlemere United," his brother responded with an air of hauteur.

"Good for you," Al said smirking, "could you leave the room, please? I want to check on Lily-bee, ask whether she likes my gift and get dressed to go to the Burrow, for the Christmas dinner."

James just puffed out his chest and left the room, Albus following him. He went to the second floor, where his sister's room was located. He knocked and after being given permission to enter he opened the door and in he went.

"Lily-bee, did you like my gift?" Al asked, his concern hidden behind his green eyes and smooth voice.

"Of course, Al!" exclaimed the girl. "How could I not? I've never seen such a thing. I put it above my dressing table, a place of honour might I say."

Her brother turned his head, and there it was – the beautiful glass case which contained a mini version of a meadow. There were hundreds of flowers and bushes, as well as some trees. On their branches, birds could be seen and even heard for they were trilling, and at the bottom of it does and deer lay on the grass, multi-coloured butterflies were flying around, while the bees were dutifully collecting pollen. He had seen it in Diagon Alley, when he was shopping with his grandma. On that day he had bought most of the gifts for his family and friends. It really came in handy to have a quite large money allowance, especially when he wasn't spending it on stupid things like James did.

"It's incredible what magic can do, is it not?" asked Lily, her brown eyes shining. Her smile brightened Al's day.

"Yes, Lily-bee. It is quite incredible. I hope it lasts for a long time, but it requires great care."

"Don't worry, I'll ask mummy to take care of it when I'm not at home," promised the little girl, terrified that something might happen to her beloved personal meadow.

"I know you will," Al chuckled. "I should get ready for the dinner. You'd better start, as well. I know you take hours before you choose appropriate dress robes and we don't want to be late like two years ago. "

Remembering the scolding their parents got from Molly Weasley for being late, the tiny red-head started giggling. "Yes, we do not want that."

"I think I'm not going to be the only Slytherin in this house for much longer," Albus teased. Lily slightly stuck her tongue out and playfully pushed her brother out of her room.

* * *

Elizabeth Antoinette Nott was not going to admit that she was disappointed, and yet she was. She had thought that Albus, just like her other friends, would send her a gift, just a little token of their friendship. 'But he hasn't, so I just have to deal with it,' she told herself.

Tristan might not be a Slytherin, however he was just as observant, and he knew his sister better than anyone else; he noticed that she was displeased. It didn't take long to figure out why. Albus Potter hadn't sent her a Christmas gift, and she had. She felt both embarrassed and hurt and she didn't want to show it. 'Proud Slytherins,' he thought bitterly. 'What is that prat's problem? They were practically joined at the hip the past four months. Why would he send me a gift and not to her? I'd better not let her see it. She'll go nuts.'

While the two siblings were speculating on the young Potter's lack of courtesy, their parents' guests started arriving, so Liz and Tristan had to put an end to their musings. Unknowingly to them, the sister, as well as the brother, had decided on questioning the boy in matter the following day. 'He'd better have a bloody good reason. Nobody messes with my sis and gets away unscathed,' Tristan told himself.

* * *

The Burrow has changed a great deal since the end of the II Wizarding War. Gone were the multiple stories sustained from crashing only by magic; the shed, which was more of a stockroom for Arthur's muggle trinkets, had lost its dishevelled aspect and the loan surrounding the house was much better looking. Since all their children had left, there were only two more stories on top of the ground one, which were used by their grandchildren when they'd sleep over. The first and second floors were built by an architect, so the Burrow was looking rather nice.

In the kitchen of the Weasley matriarch, different kinds of food were stewing in the pots full to the brim, the ingredients for salads were magically chopped and cut, and the desserts were under a chilling spell. In a nutshell, everything was going as planned. Molly and some of her daughters-in-law were agilely working in the kitchen taking care either of the meal, or the seating arrangements, or the napkins, utensils, jars, goblets and plates sets.

"Angelina, dear, are you sure you've got the right number of people coming?" asked Molly. "I'm afraid there are fewer cutleries on the table than needed."

"Yes, mum. There are enough of them," replied George's wife. She was quite used to calling her mother-in-law 'mum', especially after she had lost her real one to a disease in 2008."But let me check again: You, dad, Bill, Fleur, Vic, Dom, Louis, Charlie, Percy, Audrey, Molly, Lucy, George, me, Fred, Roxy, Ron, Hermione, Rosie, Hugo, Harry, Ginny, James, Al, Lily, Andromeda, Teddy, Neville, Hannah, Alice, Catherine, and Dayton. That's 32 in total, and I've got 32 sets of cutlery."

Audrey, who had been supervising the potatoes in the oven, started laughing. "It really comes in handy to have magical powers. If we did it the muggle way, under no circumstances would we have fittted in here. And we'd had to rent a venue, which is quite expensive, especially on Christmas."

"Yes, Audrey, magic is a real blessing in such situations," Molly agreed. "It's also quite convenient that that husband of yours is so good at Charms and Hermione at Transfiguration."

Having no magical powers herself, Audrey could not really imagine the efforts required when performing magic of that level. However, she was very smart and she could guess that there were lots of theories one would have to understand before being able to manage the expansion of a room from the interior, while the exterior boundaries stayed the same.

* * *

At Malfoy Manor, the number of guests expected wasn't as large as the one for Weasleys' residence; however Scorpius felt that no matter the amount of people coming, it would never reach the same level of comfortableness and joy present at the Burrow. His parents might be caring when they were with him, but it wasn't the same when guests were involved in the equation. There were much more poised and restrained, they still would treat him with affection, but not to the same extent as they would otherwise. He was rather tired of these never ending official dinners with his grandfather's friends or his aunt Daphne's family.

The woman wasn't vicious or anything, he just didn't feel the same warmth Rosie or Al's family radiated, especially Harry Potter and Hermione Weasley. The both of them seemed to have been through a lot, and that made them appreciate their loved ones even more, and not just their family and relatives, but friends as well. Scorpius hoped that one day he'd get to experience a Christmas, where nobody cared about politics, gossip and other things that shouldn't be discussed at a holiday dinner. It's not that politics weren't important, they were, 'but nobody should do business when it's family time', he thought, putting on the mask of the host's polite and pleasing son.

'Why did grandfather's friends choose to come on Christmas? They'd always come on 27 December or something, not today! This is going to be so boring. At least there will be some fireworks to look forward to, and of course the slumber party at Al tomorrow. Four blissful days!'

* * *

The magically extended table was completely covered with delicious dishes, alcohol and pumpkin juice. Everybody was talking either in pairs or in little groups. Arthur, Molly and Andromeda were commenting on how fast their grandchildren had grown; Bill, Charlie and George were discussing the _WWW_ range of products catered for the ministry; Percy and Audrey were in each other's arms just relaxing; Ron, Hermione, Harry, Neville and Hannah were delving into the past, retelling some of their adventures while at Hogwarts, and the youngest of children were rapturously listening, Ginny and Angelina were going through some main points concerning their magazine; Fleur was listening to Ted and Tory's plans after her graduation.

The younger generation like Dom and Alice were discussing boys, whereas Louis, James and Fred were immersed into Quidditch related topics. Molly and Catherine were catching up on each other's lives; even though in the same year, they were in different houses, and Ravenclaws didn't have many lessons with Hufflepuffs. Rosie was talking with Al about the fun they'd have starting with the next day.

"Cousin, your idea was truly brilliant!" she exclaimed.

"I know, Rosie, I know I'm brilliant," he teased.

"You and Scorp become more and more like Ambrose."

"Oh, Rose, come on! Just a bit of teasing and I'm already Am's clone," he pouted. "Now, tell me, did you enjoy my gift?"

"Of course, I did! The apatite studs are so beautiful," she gushed, "and mum says it brings out my eyes, they're actually almost of the same colour."

"Yes, when I saw them in _Stones and bling_, I immediately thought of your eyes," Al smiled crookedly. "But, why aren't you wearing them, then?"

"I wanted to, but mum said that simple earrings would look better with this attire, however from now on I'll be wearing your gift every single day."

"Well, that is nice to hear," he said, his eyes shining with amusement. "And, speaking about gifts, thank you for yours. I hadn't much time to read it, but the first chapters were really captivating."

"I take it you have got some lessons to learn from '_The art of manipulation – become a master_'?" Rosie asked beaming.

"Definitely. I had no idea that it was such a complex notion and my perception of it has changed quite a lot."

"I'm glad you like it and find it useful," she replied softly, and then jokingly added, "we wouldn't want you to be lacking in the manipulating department, now would we? What kind of Slytherin would you be without knowing how to be sneaky and cunning?"

"Oh, please. I've got more than enough of both of them. However, manipulation, as described in the book, is a subtle art and not many can truly embrace it. I plan to be one of those few people."

Rosie started laughing and Al soon followed after.

A beautiful melody could be heard from the magical radio perched on the windowsill. Outside, it was snowing; big fluffy flakes were falling down. It was a magical time, it was Christmas.

* * *

Amorette Mabel Zabini was playing with her Kneazle, a gift from her parents and brother. Little Venus was purring and licking the girl's knuckles, as Amor was going with her fingers through the midnight black fur of her pet.

"Oi, Mabel!" yelled her brother from downstairs. "Stop playing with Venus and come down to have dinner. Father is ready to give his speech, and then we can eat. I'm starving!"

"You're always starving, Ambrose," was his sister's reply.

"If you don't get your pretty posterior down right now, I will drag you myself!"

"Prince, don't get worked up! You'll lose your hair before you reach pubescence."

"And you'll become an old woman with hundreds of cats and die alone," he thundered.

"Amorette! Ambrose! Stop arguing! It's Christmas, we shouldn't be fighting," their mother chided them.

"Mia, love, don't get upset, you know why. Now, you'd better come down this instant, young lady. And I want you both to apologise to each other for the things you've said."

Amor sighed, but left her room. Once she entered the dining room, she did what her father told her, grumbling "Sorry", and sat down. Her brother was a bit louder when asking for forgiveness and sat near his mother.

His father raised his goblet and gave his usual Christmas speech. However, instead of simply telling them to tuck in, he took his wife's hand and, looking at their children, he smiled. "Children, your mother and I have great news for you," he said, squeezing Mia's hand. "Your mother is pregnant," he finished and she beamed at her son and daughter.

"Wow, mum, that's wonderful!" Amor exclaimed and started bouncing on her chair excited. "Do you know whether it's a girl or a boy?"

"No, I'm just about two months pregnant, it is much too soon," Mia replied. And then she turned towards her son, who hadn't said anything and his face was covered with his usual mask. 'Slytherins…'

"It is really great, but are you sure it's alright?" he asked. "I mean you're 35 after all."

"Yes, Ambrose," his father answered instead on his wife, "it is alright. She's a witch and people do have children at 35, some even later."

"I was just asking," he shrugged. "But it would be nice to have a brother. Mable is more than enough."

"Hey, what's with that? I'd like a sister, so I can help arrange her hair," whined Amorette.

Their parents looked at each other and chuckled. "Siblings," Blaise whispered, as though it explained everything, and he promptly put an end to the twin's dispute. "Tuck in! Ambrose weren't you saying that you were starving?"

The boy didn't reply, but put some meat pie on his plate and started eating it. The evening was quite peaceful afterwards, especially when dessert was brought. The family talked about Hogwarts, interesting Quidditch matches to look forward to or places to visit during summer, the sleepover at the Potters and baby names.

* * *

"Molly, I must say that your fudge, as always, is something to die for," stated Harry, and everybody else commented on the woman's exceptional cooking abilities, naming their favourite dishes made by the Weasley matriarch.

"Oh, thank you, Harry, dear," she said flattered.

"Nana, you said you'd prepare some apple pie and treacle tart for my party with my classmates, you did make it, right?" Al asked sheepishly.

"Of course, darling. How could I not?" she answered, her eyes brimming with love. Not many wanted to admit it, but for a reason or another Albus was kind of her favourite. However, that didn't mean that she didn't love all of her grandchildren. It's just the boy reminded her of his father at the age of 11, malnourished and wearing baggy clothes, and how much she wanted to make him feel cherished and cared for.

"Thank you, nana! I'm sure my friends will love it!"

"Apple pie, treacle tart, hmmm… Now I want to come myself to that party of yours," commented Ron rubbing his belly.

"Ronald, haven't you eaten enough?" his wife asked appaled.

"Don't mind him, Hermione," George advised his sister-in-law. "He's always had a black hole instead of a normal stomach like the rest of us have."

"Not to mention his table manners," Percy voiced his not so positive opinion of his youngest brother. "I actually remember you once calling him a pig."

Some diners started chuckling, while Ron got as red as a beetroot.

"Don't mock your brother," Molly admonished her sons. "Ron, if you want, I'll make some pie for you as well."

At that, everybody started laughing even louder. Ron got even more furious and clumsily (he'd had quite a bit of Firewhiskey) stood up from the table, and left the room. Some moments later, the sound of disapparition was heard.

"What was that?" Hermione asked bewildered. She could not believe that her spouse just left her at the Burrow with their children because of some petty remarks.

"That's our brother being you-know-what," explained George. Everybody knew that you-know-what stood for arsehole.

"Yes, but…" Hermione couldn't even elaborate any further, she was that astonished by Ron's childish behaviour. It all added to his already strange demeanour for the past six months or so and it left her baffled.

Harry had known that something wasn't right with Ron, he had been really weird for quite some time, and he needed to talk to Hermione. He also knew the perfect opportunity to do so. "Hermione, we should go now."

She wanted to point out that the children would be alone, but Ginny was faster. "Don't worry, I'll take them home. They were going to stay the night at Grimmauld Place anyway. You go."

Hermione smiled at her friend and both she and Harry started saying goodbye to their family and friends.

* * *

The door to the room 16 opened and a quite drunk person tumbled in. He grabbed his lover and pushed her against the wall, before Karin could even utter something. He quickly vanished their clothes, made sure that she was wet enough and penetrated her, which made her gasp. The door wasn't even closed, and yet they were having sex on what technically could be called a threshold. Luckily for them, nobody had passed by and the nearby rooms were empty.

After they both climaxed, he released her from his fierce grasp and she almost slid to the floor; she was all liquid and emotions. He lifted her into his arms, and carried her to the bed, where he made love to her again and again.

As they lay sated in the bed, Karin caressed his back with her long nails. "I thought you were spending Christmas with your family… with your wife."

"She's unbearable," he resentfully retorted.

"Well, I don't care why you're here, I'm just glad that you are," Karin grinned. "She doesn't deserve to spend Christmas with you, you're mine."

Ron didn't say anything in return, what he did was nibble on her bare breasts and she purred with satisfaction.

After another round of sexual intercourse, he fell asleep. As she watched him, she realised something, something very important. 'He hasn't cast the anti-pregnancy charm not even once tonight! Oh, Morgana, I hope I get pregnant!'

* * *

Godric's Hollow was a little village with not many residents, a church, a post-office, a pub and some shops. One might ask what was special about it, and a wizard would reply that there were lots of magical folk and that the family of both Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter had lived there. It was the village, where Lily Potter nee Evans gave her life in exchange for her little baby, the said child becoming known as 'the Boy Who Lived' and even later as the Chosen One. The sculpture made in honour of the Potter family had been a tourist attraction for wizards since the end of the war.

Harry Potter himself was there at the moment, accompanied by his ever faithful friend, Hermione Weasley nee Granger. They were silently walking, the both of them wondering how to approach the subject they cared about the most. Harry had finally found his courage and spoke first. "What is happening, Hermione? What's the matter with Ron?"

"I don't know," was her response. "I think it's a midlife crisis or something similar."

"Yes, but it's not normal!" he all but shouted. "I don't really recognise him anymore."

"Sometimes neither do I."

They were near the church now, where singing could be heard from, but they didn't go in. The two war heroes approached the graveyard, opened its gate and entered the cemetery. They didn't go straight towards the Potter graves. First they visited their late Headmaster's family's graves and left some flowers there. As he reached his parents, Harry knelt down and, as he always did, traced with his fingers their names engraved in the stone. Another tradition was Hermione conjuring a wreath of Christmas roses and him putting it on the grave. He stood up, and embraced his dear friend.

"Harry, let's not dwell too much on his behaviour," she whispered, exhaling vapours as she did so.

"He's your husband, you know better. But I do not want you getting hurt. If it gets unbearable, you'd tell me, wouldn't you?"

"Of course I would. Thank you."

"Hermione, it's the least I can do. You've done so much for me that I could never repay you back," his voice was ardent.

"You're my best friend, that's enough. Let's go back," she said softly, "Ginny must have already put the kids to sleep. And I don't want to wake them, when I go to bed myself."

"Alright, let's go. Thank you for helping us with the kids for the next four days."

"It's my pleasure, Harry. It's been a long time since I spent the night over at Grimmaul Place," Hermione replied. "It's become one my most favourite places in the world."

"It certainly has! Especially after we took the wall down along with that damned portrait of Walburga, put away the elves' heads, hid the tapestry and redecorated the entire house," Potter senior responded mocking his friend a bit.

"Well, you couldn't have possibly left that factory of insults on the wall with little Teddy around! And you do remember that I helped redecorate the house after I graduated from Hogwarts."

"Of course I do," he chuckled. "And for that I'll be eternally grateful. You know that I was much too busy with Auror training and capturing Death Eaters at that time."

They reached the Potter memorial and Harry slightly touched it and then took Hermione's hand and the both of them apparated on the last step leading to the entrance of 12 Grimmauld Place. They briefly smiled at each other and went inside.

* * *

**Explanation of some things that might be confusing:**

**1.** About the Potter and Weasley families being rather wealthy. Well, I think that they had been given quite a lot of money for their contribution to taking down Voldemort's regime and most of them have rather good jobs, which are highly paid. The Potter family had had lots of financial resources from the very start; hence the kids have monthly allowances.

**2. **In my story, Audrey is a Muggle. I don't know why chose it to be like that, but well, it is. Audrey Weasley nee O'Dwyer is a Muggle Ministry Worker from 2000, her being the liaison between the Muggle Government and the Wizarding one, instead of the Prime Minister himself, as he is rather busy with the European crisis. That's how she met Percy, when he was still the Junior Assistant to the Minister for Magic. Right now, he is an important official in the Department of Magical Transportation in the Ministry (since 2005).

**3.** About Albus' room. Perhaps you'll find it a bit too much, but although it is more on the baroque side, the room still preserves its boyish touch.

**4. **About Ron's behaviour. It is rather known, that Ron has a short temper, and sometimes he does stupid things when teased or peeved, being teased and nagged or laughed at by his family or Hermione. Not to mention when he's drunk. Sometimes his stupid behaviour is rather hurtful.

I'm a very loyal and devoted person, and I could never forgive someone leaving that someone's friends because of petty jeaulosy in life-thretening situations, such as a Horcrux hunt.

In this chapter I recreated that really annoying flaw of his. But, everybody has both flaws and qualities, and we must embrace them, if we truly went to accept somebody. Even his brothers should have been more considerate, and I wanted to outline that as well.

**5. **About Blaise's comment that Mia was a witch. By that he meant that wizards lived longer and hence aged at a slower pace.

**A quick poll for entertainment purposes:**

_Which is your favourite holiday?_

A) Christmas  
B) Easter  
C) Mother's / Father's Day  
D) Other. Let me know!

**My own answer to the previous poll: **My favourite Marauder is Sirius Orion Black, the third. I'm not even going to write why, since I think it's rather obvious. Go Sirius!

Did you enjoy reading about the way our favourite characters spent their Christmas? And why didn't Al send a gift to adorable Lizzy? What did you think about Al's room redecoration and slight change of personality? Tell me your thoughts!

Review please!


	11. Of tours and accidents

**Author's Notes:  
**  
Well, here is the tenth chapter.

Thank you for reading my story, putting it on alert and adding it to your favourites!

I'm a bit saddened that nobody reviewed, but, oh well… there isn't much I can do about that.

I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no profit from this work of art. However, I do own the plot and some OCs. The image belongs to **charmontez**.

* * *

**Chapter 10. Of tours and accidents**

Harry Potter had a very busy morning. First, he had to wake up really early in order to help his wife and best friend prepare for the upcoming party. Then he had to take James to his mother-in-law and remind him that he had to behave himself and that there actually were rules to follow. And that wasn't his last floo journey by far; he went back and forth between Grimmauld Place and the residences of the Malfoy, Nott, Zabini and Doyle families. And as if that wasn't enough, he also had to engage in small talk with the children's parents. It wasn't unpleasant, just awkward.

"Alright, Al, here are your friends," said his father, gesturing towards the boy's classmates. "I hope I haven't forgotten anybody."

"No, dad, thanks," smiled Albus. "You can go to work now."

"How generous of you," Harry commented on his son's dismissal, however he responded to the kid's smile with one of his own and, having wished everybody to have fun, left the drawing room.

"Well, what shall we start with?" asked an impatient Rose, behind her cousin.

"How about a tour?" Amorette suggested, and went to hug her friend. "I'm so happy to see you! Thank you for the book! I've never thought that ancient magic was this enthralling."

"You're welcome!" she answered. "Thank you for the crystal phials, but the monogram was really too much. You, too, Ambrose, thanks a lot!"

The boy just waved his hand dismissing her exuberant feelings of gratitude. "It was just some crystal phials."

"So how about the tour, Al?" Tristan repeated Amor's words. He really wanted to talk to the boy in private. The sooner the tour took place, the faster he'd be able to talk to him.

"Of course," Albus nodded. "Well, this is the drawing room on the first floor. There once has been a tapestry of the Black family tree, but my parents hid it when they redecorated. I reckon it would've shown you, Scorp."

"Why would there be a Black family tree in your house?" Thea asked with a little frown.

"Well, this has been the house of my dad's godfather, Sirius Black. Dad inherited it upon Sirius' death. James' middle name is also Sirius."

"And as far as I know, your great-grandmother, Dorea Potter, was a Black," added Rose. If Al didn't know that his cousin was one of the most curious people on earth, he would've been surprised that she knew stuff about his father's family. However, he did know her, so he didn't dwell on it much.

"Yes, now, this is the room you – Liz, Thea and Amorette, would be sharing with Rose," the boy continued the house tour, having left the drawing room and going to the mentioned dormitory. "As you can see, it's really large and it should be good enough for all of you. And next to the room, there's a bathroom you can use. Do you like it?"

Elizabeth nodded and smiled at the colours adorning each bed sheets. Those were the favourite colours of each girl, hers being Irish green, Thea's – purple, Amor's – ivory, and Rosie's – light blue. Al was really sweet that way, memorising their adored hues. "Yes, it's lovely. It's going to be just like at Hogwarts."

The other girls seemed to agree with Al's choice of colouring and happily said that they liked their sleeping arrangements quite a lot.

"Well, let's go upstairs first, and then downstairs," said the young Potter. "In the kitchen, waiting for us is brunch. Aunt Hermione and mum have prepared quite the feast for us. Also, I got desserts from my nana, the best thing you'll ever taste!"

The other boys just rolled their eyes, whilst the girls just chuckled at Albus' antics.

"Well, let's go to the second floor. This is Lily's room and that one is James'," he showed the respective private quarters of his siblings. "The one in between is a bathroom, but you'd better not use it, who knows what kind of stuff James hid in there."

"Here, on the third floor, are the master bedroom, which belongs to my parents, two guest rooms and a bathroom. One of them is occupied by Hugo and the other one will be yours," he continued, pointing at Tristan, Scorpius and Ambrose. "My parents' dormitory is actually an en-suite, so you don't have to worry about the bathroom arrangements."

As Al opened the door, the other children could see a spacious room, with quite a lot of light coming in from the wide windows and three rather big beds, with silver, green and blue duvets on them, which would belong to Scorp, Ambrose and Tristan, respectively. The 'host' closed the door and they went for the topmost landing featuring just two bedrooms.

"Now, this is the fourth and last floor," Al informed his friends. "The room on the left, once belonged to Sirius Black, but now it's kind of a library. It was aunt Hermione's idea. When my father came back to live here, the room was in a much too dilapidated condition, not much could be salvaged. So she proposed to put the pictures and stuff on the walls and some of the important stuff in a trunk and keep it at Gringotts. If you want to read something, you can take a book from there, there are quite a lot.

"And this is my room," he said opening the door to his room. Everybody except Rose, were quite impressed by it. The girl had seen it before and she had already expressed her appreciation of the room to its owner.

"Nice," Ambrose and his sister exclaimed at once.

"How Slytherin," smirked Scorp. "I really like the theme, mate."

Tristan and Thea just nodded their agreement to their friends' aforementioned comments.

"It is rather overwhelming," said Lizzy, "but I like it."

"Well, thanks. This was my parents' Christmas gift for me," Al smiled. "Now let's go to the ground floor."

Once, they reached the first floor and continued descending the stairs, Al spoke with an amused expression on his face. "Quite some time ago, when I wasn't even born, there had been heads of house-elves mounted on plaques decorating this wall. But my parents' thought it was too repelling so they took them down."

"And they did well," muttered Rosie; she didn't find anything amusing about such horrible wall ornaments.

"I agree," Amor said, "that's awful."

The boys didn't have an opinion, so they just shrugged, while Thea seemed to be too far away in her thoughts to have noticed the comments. Liz just looked at Al, and they both silently chuckled; she too found it rather humouring.

"So this is the ground floor. At the end of this hallway, there is the main entrance leading outside to Grimmauld Square, and behind me is the door leading to the garden, which father has transformed into a Quidditch mini-pitch," Al informed his fellows. "Well, there to the left is the dining room, and we eat there only when in very large numbers. The wall to the left has once been removed completely. My mum said that there was a portrait of a crazy woman, Walburga Black, I reckon your great-great-aunt, Scorp. This psycho was yelling the entire day awful stuff about anybody passing by. So they just destroyed the wall since the portrait could not be taken down, and believe me they had tried. And to the other side is the staircase leading to the kitchen. Take care, it is a bit narrow."

Everybody followed him down, and before them opened a quite enlarged cavernous room, with a big rectangle table made from cherry-wood in the middle of it. There was also a large fireplace. To one side was the kitchen itself and all the equipment seemed brand new, and to another was the pantry, most likely containing all the products, as well as an ice-box. Near it, there was another small room.

"What's that for?" asked Amor.

Before Al could reply, another voice cut in. "It belongs to Kreacher, the Black's house-elf, but he's ours now, however he's quite old, so don't disturb him much, please."

"Hey, mum, were you hiding in the pantry or something?"

"No, Albus, I put some of the unused fish in the ice-box," answered Ginny, and she turned her attention back to their guests. "I hope you will have a pleasant stay here. You can call me Mrs Ginny, alright?"

"Okay," Amor said, "but why not Mrs Potter?"

"It makes me feel like I'm old, and I'm really far from it," giggled Ginny, waving her hand dismissing the thoughts about unwelcome aging.

"I see all the mothers are the same," grumbled Ambrose.

"What do you mean, Am?" inquired Tristan.

"Well, just yesterday we had quite a similar talk with our mum," he explained. "And it all started with her pregnancy."

"Your mother is pregnant?" asked Ginny delighted. "How wonderful! She's brave to have a child at this age."

"Well, she is 35, so…" Amorette trailed off, deciding that her explanation was enough.

"I see. But I meant that taking care of child is a strenuous activity. Now, we have more important things to do," stated Ginny. "Hermione has already left for work, but until now we've been preparing lots of delicious meals for you lot. So, how about you take a sit at the table?"

* * *

Hermione knocked on Harry's office door, and she went inside, after hearing a low "Enter".

"How are you, Harry?"

"I'm fine, just a bit tired," he answered, his hands going through his hair, messing it even more.

"Is it the Xanthus case?" she asked softly.

"Yes, and it is torturing me. I mean he's already been seen in Greece, Austria and Netherlands some time ago. He should have crossed the channel by now, but nobody has reported to have seen him. Not knowing is the most gnawing thing ever!"

"Harry, you have to calm down. It won't do you any good to get this anxious. And what can you possibly do? It's not like you can go out there and start searching for him."

"Yes, but at least I'd be doing something!" he exclaimed. "What if he decides to go on a killing spree? What then? I want to prevent people from dying, Hermione! I'm an auror, this is supposed to be my job!"

"Yes, it is, but you don't know his whereabouts. You have already alerted all the possible focal points, there isn't much you can do besides that. And promise me that you will suppress that urge of yours to save everybody," Hermione chastised him.

Her friend just sighed and shook his head, as if saying that he wouldn't make promises he couldn't keep. This, however, infuriated her. "Harry! Promise me, now!"

"I promise to try," he mumbled. Hermione knew it was the most she could get from him, so she didn't press on.

"Alright, let's go to that meeting," she said, not really looking forward to it. The trimestral ministerial head of departments/offices meetings weren't much fun.

"Yes, let's go," Harry sighed; he just like Hermione wasn't very excited about it. "I really don't understand how they could move the meeting onto 26 December, what were they thinking?"

* * *

Ginny was a bit regretting that she had agreed to receive those little devils into her house. They were everywhere. Having eaten, they started moving through the entire house, and as if they weren't enough, Lily and Hugo joined them. 'They definitely want to demolish this house,' she thought.

Somehow, she made everybody stop for about five minutes, so she could catch her breath from having run so much. They had destroyed some of the Black china, a beautiful sculpture she and Harry had bought during their honeymoon in Bahamas and some curtains had been a bit ripped to one side, but it was nothing magic couldn't repair. As she thanked magic for what seemed like the hundredth time, some distant shouts could be heard from the last floor. 'I thought everybody was in the dining room.'

She quickly went up the stairs to Al's room, and opened the door, seeing Tristan and her son arguing about something. It seemed that they didn't register her presence.

"Why would you treat my sister like that?" the former asked a bit too loudly. "Why would you send me a gift and not to her? You've no idea just how upset she was! Some friend you are!"

"I have a gift for her! Why are you shouting?"

"Oh, yeah? So where is it? In the shop, perhaps?" Tristan went on. Al had never seen him so 'not calm', usually the boy was the epitomised composure.

Some movement near her caught Ginny's eye, and she saw all the children coming upstairs and they were rather busy with listening to the two friends' arguing.

"I did buy Elizabeth a gift! But it is too big for me to send it via owl, and I wanted to give it to her today!" Al replied defensively.

"Tristan, stop it!" a very embarrassed Liz exclaimed. The boys finally took notice of their audience and Al started blushing.

"I really have a gift for you, Lizzy," he said looking at the floor. "I'm sorry if I spoiled your holiday."

"Don't worry, Al, you didn't," she smiled.

"Damn right, he-" Tristan interrupted his thought, "the hell he didn't! You were almost crying, for Merlin's sake!"

His sister, just like her Slyhterin friend, was rather red in the cheeks. "Raven, if you don't shut that mouth of yours, I will do it! And mind your words."

The boy turned towards the mistress of the house and apologised. "I'm sorry, Mrs Ginny, for shouting and cursing."

The woman just shook her head and smiled at him. "Do not worry. Albus, how about I bring Elizabeth's gift?"

Her son, still admiring the light colour of the wood on his floor, simply nodded and didn't say anything else. He wanted to give the present to Liz in a bit more private surroundings.

Ginny quickly retrieved the girl's gift and handed it to Al. He finally looked up, and still blushing, gave it to her. "I heard your dad saying that Yoko is now dancing as well, so when I saw this I thought you'd like it."

The girl was beaming as she admired the Japanese inspired theatre scene. As the boy mentioned earlier, it was rather big, and rightly so. The arches were wide, the background of the scene was enormous and the catwalk was long. It was a good thing that the theatre had a weightless charm put on it.

Lizzy quickly put the house of art down and hugged her housemate. "Thank you, Al, so much! It's a _Noh_ theatre. I've seen those only in history books."

"I'm glad you like it," the boy replied relieved. "In there, are some kimonos Yoko could wear, you just have to ask for them. Also, depending on the song she's interpreting, the background will change and there are some special effects, but there are so many I don't remember them all."

The girl with a bubbly personality hugged him once again, and then took the house in one hand, and with the other she urged the girls to follow her to their room, so she could retrieve Yoko from her bag and put her on the stage to admire her performance.

Ginny watched them leaving and Tristan apologising to her son. The other boys followed the girls downstairs, however she was sure they didn't join their friends to watch Yoko sing and dance.

* * *

"How has work been?" asked a tired Karin. They had been making love for at least three hours in a row, and she felt drained.

"It was alright. The heads had a meeting yesterday, so today we were mostly given the abbreviated form of it."

"Ron, I'm tired of leaving in a bed and breakfast hotel."

"Yeah, it is bothersome. I think I will buy you a flat," he said wondering just how much he'd have to spend on it.

"You will buy a flat for us, not just for me," she said smiling at him.

"You're right. For us," he grinned at her.

"I'm going to show just how well I can cook," stated Karin.

"Food, hmm, that's good," he replied and nuzzled his head in her uncovered breast. Soon they got distracted and he took her once more before leaving to go to the house he shared with his wife.

'I will have a flat!' she exclaimed in her head. 'Now, I just hope, I get pregnant, so he can leave his wife and come live with me and our baby.'

* * *

It was 30 December, a beautiful Saturday. Harry Potter just got up and went downstairs to start the preparation of breakfast for 12 people. He still couldn't believe that they had survived the past four days with just a few accidents and only two visits to St. Mungo's.

The first accident happened during a Quidditch match on Wednesday. He had taken a day off from work and took care of cleaning the mini-pitch from the previously accumulated snow. He also reinforced the charms that didn't permit for either the children or the balls to go past the pitch and the house's height. All the children were almost in ecstasy; they would play Quidditch! In about an hour, they had warming charms cast on them, had brooms in one hand and two of them had a beater's bat, as well.

There were two teams with five players each. Al's team was called 4+1 (four first years and a nine year old; four boys and a girl; four Slytherins and the undetermined one), and he was the seeker, Scorp and Liz – chasers, Hugo – beater, and Am – keeper. Tristan's team was named Mingle-Bingle (no explanation whatsoever, Thea suggested it), him and Lily playing as chasers, Rose – keeper, Amor – seeker and Thea – beater. Although the Doyle girl was much better qualified to play as a chaser, Harry had to recognise that she did a pretty good job as a beater. Ginny volunteered to be the referee and her husband was the commentator.

For about half an hour, the captains had discussed the tactics they'd use with their respective teams. And the match started. The Potter couple quickly noticed that all the players were very talented, and some of them had Quidditch in their blood. They were formidable. After about two hours of them playing, when the score was 80-50 for 4+1, it happened – the smash, so to say. The bludger violently hit Am's arm and the set of parents feared the boy had his hand bones completely crushed. They quickly stopped the game, rushed to the Zabini kid, provided first aid, and they took everybody to the hospital via floo.

Fortunately, it was just a broken humerus in two places, and the healers made him look like new, not even a scratch on his arm. Harry felt rather relieved. He didn't want to meet Blaise just to tell him that something horrible happened to his boy. Now, when he brought back the twins to their house, he could just inform the former Slytherin that there was an accident, but nothing major.

However, after that accident, there was no more playing with the bludgers. Hugo and Thea had to play as chasers. The match resumed, and Al's team won 250 to 90, as he was the one to catch the snitch.

Thursday had passed without many things being broken or torn apart. The second accident happened on Friday.

It seemed that the children got rather bored with plain old Quidditch and thus decided that flying on brooms throughout the house, more specifically up and down the stairs, was much more interesting. Suffice to say, the event had been called 'the big impact'. Why impact? Well, a certain Hugo Weasley got distracted while zooming really fast along the corridor on the ground floor and had a rather painful encounter with the door leading into the back garden. The door wasn't made of steel, therefore it could not resist from bursting open as a result from the impact. And as if that wasn't enough, Hugo was thrown into the snow and as he wasn't dressed for a bath in snowdrifts, besides lots of bruises and swollen body parts, he got a cold as well.

Some guests didn't know what to do, laugh or be concerned for the young Weasley, however Ginny's murderous glare at their misdemeanour quickly took care of that uncertainty. After three hours of being chastised and given lectures, they had to endure another two hour long talk on safety and rules that existed specifically to prevent such accidents. The poor Weasley was scarred for eternity and vowed never to misbehave under his aunt Ginny's surveillance.

All in all, the Potter couple felt like celebrating after they had sent the children to their respective homes.

"Remind me never to volunteer to take care of these children," mumbled a very tired Ginny. "I feel like I have had one of those hard bordering psychotic Holyhead Harpies training sessions."

Harry smiled, understanding his wife's grief and exhaustion. It had been a rather strenuous experience. "Next time I hope they visit the others' houses. I would like to see how they'd cope."

The red-head chuckled and kissed her spouse. She took his hand and led him towards their bedroom. She might have been very tired, but she found sex as something quite invigorating. Harry understood her intentions and quickly pulled her in his arms and ascended the stairs as fast as possible. 'Hopefully, the children won't disturb us.'

* * *

**Explanation of some things that might be confusing:**

**1.** About the structure of 12 Grimmauld Place. I have tried to stay as close to canon as possible. I'm not sure whether the house has got four floors, but from what I have read both in the books and 'Harry Potter – wikipedia', I gathered that it could be that big. I hope you don't mind that Sirius' room is no more. I don't really like that, but I couldn't just let it be covered in cobwebs.

**2. **A _Noh _theatre is a Japanese theatre, where _Gheisha_ used to perform, some still do that now. You can google it or see pictures of it, they are rather beautiful.

**3.** Acquiring a flat in London is very expensive, but Ron seems to have deeper pockets now and mortgages are rather convenient.

**A quick poll for entertainment purposes:**

_Which of the following is your favourite colour?_

A) Green  
B) Blue  
C) Black (I know it is a shade and not a colour)  
D) Red  
E) Other. Let me know (you can specify the shade/hue, if you want to)!

**My own answer to the previous poll: **My favourite holiday is Mother's Day. I love my mother very much and I'm so grateful that she has done so much for me. Thus on that day (but not only on that day), I try to show her my gratitude and affection as much as humanly possible.

So what do you think about their slumber party or Tristan's overprotective nature? Aren't they all a mischievous bunch? ^_^

Please review!

When you review, my muse tends to have a continuous presence in my head, and thus I write and update much faster.


	12. Of unfortunate fellows and events

**Author's Notes:  
**  
Well, here is the 11th chapter. I'm sorry that I haven't updated sooner.

I'm very grateful to you for reading my story, putting it on alert and adding it to your favourites!

Read and review, please! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no profit from this work of art. However, I do own the plot and some OCs. The image belongs to **charmontez**.

* * *

**Chapter 11. Of unfortunate fellows and events**

After two weeks of holidays, in which the birthdays of the Scamander twins (2 January) and Astoria Malfoy (3 January) had been celebrated, the Hogwarts students were finally returning to their beloved castle. Unfortunately for James, this meant spending his 13th birthday on the Hogwarts Express.

That morning, the Potter family had had cake for breakfast and the boy received lots and lots of gifts from his very large family and numerous friends. The next hour had been spent on sorting out which of the acquired goods he'd take with him to school. For some reason, James' mischievous grin was almost tattooed on his face; his uncle George had sent him some rather interesting trinkets and he couldn't wait to try them all. Ginny would have supervised this 'sorting', but she had been far too busy with the preparations for her sons' departure.

For some unfortunate first year Hufflepuffs, James took everything the _WWW_ owner gave him. _Naughty Noodles_, _Pixie Powder_, _Flying Fists_ and _Nosy Maggots_ were dropped in the said puff's compartment and, as they say, the rest was history. Another not so lucky person was a sixth year Ravenclaw, Persephone Drivin, to whom those first years had run asking for help. Since she was a Prefect she had no other choice but aid them. She had spent precious 45 minutes chasing after the good-for-nothing trio in order to make them stop the mayhem they had caused and, of course, inform them that they would serve detention as soon as the second term started.

'I could've spent this time with my boyfriend, not running after some stupid troublemakers!' thought the pissed off girl. She would have loved to be in Diego Teori's arms and snog each other senseless.

The Ravenclaw beater had the same wishes, but since his girlfriend took care of whatever she was doing, he merely chatted with his best friend and fellow housemate, Frank Stretton. The Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff match was quickly approaching, thus the two Quidditch players were coming up with different game strategies. Once they had some good ideas they went looking for the team's captain and chaser, the beautiful Idelle Davies.

Another compartment, some 40 metres down the corridor, was occupied by Albus Potter and his Slytherin and Ravenclaw friends. They were all chatting, retelling their slumber party to Sierra, laughing and generally having a good time.

* * *

The second term had started on Monday and once again the students were being overwhelmed with homework, projects and coursework. The poor fifth and seventh year were the most anxious, for in about five months they would have to take their OWLs or NEWTs. Victoire Camille Weasley was perhaps one of the most busy and tired person among all her peers. Not even a week had passed from her last date with Teddy and she was already missing him. And being a Head Girl and trying to maintain her excellent grades at the same time wasn't helping her spirits at all.

'I should stop thinking about Teddy and focus on this damned essay,' Tory chided herself. 'I wonder whether he has eaten after his Auror training. He'd better have!'

She sighed. It seemed that not thinking about her boyfriend was impossible. Victoire closed the book '_Quintessence: A Quest_' that was supposed to help her write the piece for Charms and left her private quarters. 'I'd better make a tour through the castle and hopefully I will be able to clear my head a bit.'

* * *

Somewhere in the dungeons, in a room, which once had served as a laboratory, two people were thoroughly kissing each other. The beautiful red-headed girl was completely naked, resting in a large bed – originally the teacher's desk, which was transfigured by Dominique, her excelling at that subject. Karsten was almost religiously devoting all his attention to her body, caressing and kissing every inch. About a month before her 16th birthday, they were taking the 'big' step – making love.

* * *

Victoire had already caught some lovey-dovey students from the seventh to the first floor. They hadn't even had the decency to hide better their not-so-innocent behaviour, snogging in plain view. This irked her to no end, not to mention that she was a bit jealous of them, since they could be with their better half and she couldn't. The Head Girl tried not to be too biased when deducting house points. Near the Great Hall she had encountered the Head Boy.

"Let me guess, you can't sleep and decided to make a tour?" asked Thaddeus smirking.

"As if! I have to finish that Charms essay, but my thoughts are miles away…"

"Miles away in London, I suppose," the boy tried to maintain his smirk; although he was happy she had a person who loved her very much, he couldn't deny that her pining after another man hurt him.

"Is it that obvious?" the girl smiled. "Why aren't you sleeping?"

"Well, tonight was Raphaela's shift, but she was so stressed that I volunteered to replace her."

"Aw, aren't you the perfect boyfriend?" cooed Victoire teasingly. "I see she has completely steered you away from your Casanova tendencies."

"Funny you mention that, Randolph told me the same thing when I left our common room," Thaddeus said rubbing his chin, as if he was pondering something of great importance. "I guess she _is_ more important that the other girls I've been with. You know I've never actually dwelled much on our relationship."

"Well, I'm happy you found someone with whom it's easy to be together," the blonde touched his arm for a second in a friendly manner, "but I have to go farther to be done with this tour. What areas have you checked?"

"I have been through most of the dungeons' corridors, but not all of them, mostly on the west side. If I were you, I'd go to sleep or back to finishing the essay. I'll take all the towers and the greenhouses."

"Thank you, but my head is still full of random thoughts, so I'll check the east part of the dungeons and then I'll go to my room to finish my essay."

"You know better. Take care!" Thaddeus bid farewell and left.

* * *

Dom had tears of both pain and joy when they finally joined their bodies together. Karsten was very considerate and let his girlfriend take her time adjusting to their position. Once they started moving back and forth, he found that controlling his body, specifically the lower part of it, was a bit of a challenge. Some minutes later, when his Dominique finally found release, his own was a blessing. He couldn't believe that he could experience such powerful emotions with another person and he felt incredibly lucky to be with the gorgeous red-head.

However, Karsten hadn't felt lucky at all when the door to the room, previously magically locked, had been opened with a *bang*. He felt even more unlucky when the person who had opened the door proved to be his lover's sister.

"Oh, sweet Merlin," whispered Dom underneath him.

Sweet Merlin, indeed.

* * *

The days passed by turning into weeks. Dom and Karsten were still looking a bit ashamed whenever they met Tory's gaze and the red-head would always blush remembering her sister's questioning. "_I hope you have used contraceptive charms. We wouldn't want dad imprisoned for murdering the father of your child,_" yes, it was something along those lines. Fortunately, the blonde Ravenclaw hadn't approached the subject ever again, but she did give the couple some suggesting looks, as if saying 'I know what you're doing at night,' and that made the fifth years even more uncomfortable. However, it didn't deter them from exploring their new found intimacy. They were just taking more precautions than they had before.

On 18 January, the Zabini celebrated their birthday, but the party had to be quite short as it was Wednesday and they had Astronomy at night and various lessons the next day. As the merry bunch was slowly leaving the Astronomy Tower, they were discussing Transfigurations, one of the lessons that Slytherins didn't attend together with Ravenclaws, but with Gryffindors.

"I really like Professor Dorothy Switch, no matter what you say," stated Rose for what seemed the 100th time that evening.

"Yes, but she makes us work twice as much as the other teachers do!" interjected Scorpius.

"Oh, Scorp, does a bit of additional work scare you so much?" teased Amor.

"No, it doesn't, but I'd better spend my time on my broom than studying in the library."

"I like studying in the library," replied the red-headed girl.

"Rosie, everybody knows that you'd sleep in the library, if it were possible," Al smirked. He was always quick to come to his best friend's defence.

"You really resemble Ambrose more and more with each passing day," his cousin shook her pretty head, showing her 'fake' disappointment in a mocking way.

"What is that supposed to mean?" asked the mentioned boy. "What exactly are you implying, Rose?"

"She's implying that you're a bad influence to those around you," answered Amor instead of her friend. "What is the world coming to? The 'Am-like zombies' invasion is coming and it is going to change the reality as we know it!"

"Oh, no! Another drama-queen," muttered Tristan. "Am, mate, why do we have such ostentatious sisters?"

"Melodramas, thy name are Amor and Lizzy!" exclaimed Ambrose.

"Hey!" the sisters cried together.

"How… Shakespearian," was Rosie's dry comment.

"I like Shakespeare," said Thea, her faraway look turning towards her classmates. "My favourite is '_King Lear_', which one is yours?"

A collective sigh was heard, the previous banter forgotten. The only one who actually answered was Sierra. "Mine as well!"

"Trust Sierra to be on the same length as Thea," Am said. "Never mind that, we should go to sleep."

They bid 'good night' to each other and the Ravenclaws went for their tower, as the Slytherins left for the dungeons. Unfortunately for the latter group, Peeves greeted them near the entrance to their common room with _Dungbombs_.

"There goes our sleeping," grumbled Albus. "Do we take care of him or search for either a Prefect or the Bloody Baron?"

"You stay here, I'll look for some help," said Lizzy and took off.

"Salazar's biddy eyes, why today couldn't be normal?" was Am's rhetorical question.

"I find Peeves with _Dungbombs_ quite a normal occurrence," commented Thea, a dreamy expression on her cute face.

"Thea…" the other two Slytherins sighed.

* * *

Astoria Malfoy was walking through a beautiful park in Central London after shopping, when she felt it – a numbing pain in her belly, which was followed by dizziness and, to her horror, some thick liquid trickling down her thighs underneath her robes. She was trying to keep herself calm and not give into panic, and it was rather hard, nearly impossible. 'I have to get to St. Mungo's, fast! It's just my 14th week, so I should be able to apparate without consequences.' She took in some deep breaths in order to collect herself, found a place where she could hide from prying eyes - behind some rather large bushes, cast a disillusionment charm on herself and apparated in front of what seemed like a condemned department store.

The beautiful blonde quickly went inside the red-bricked building and went straight for the admission point. Once she had reached the reception on the ground floor, she made herself visible and asked the lady working there whether Healer Tracey Boot was available.

"Yes, madam, she is. But if you want an appointment, you have to- Hey! Where are you going? You have to register first!" but the woman was talking to thin air, for Astoria Malfoy had long since left the ground floor.

Although the second floor was designated for contagious maladies, the left wing of it also addressed problematic pregnancies and deteriorating health of new-borns. The healers working on that level had to deal with both magical diseases and care for pregnant women. One such healer was Tracey Boot nee Davis. She had been writing some reports on the condition of some patients, when the door to her office was opened with a *bang*.

"What is the meaning of-" Tracey started saying, but turned silent when she noticed how pale her friend was. "Astoria, sweet Circe, what happened?"

Lady Malfoy hurried to walk inside, magically closed the door and without any warning shed all her clothing. As she expected the liquid trickling down her legs was blood, her blood.

"Oh, my…" Mrs Boot was left speechless. However, not even five seconds later, she had composed herself and guided Astoria to the available bed in her office, which was usually used by the healers who had night shifts. She changed a bit the bed's features, adding two stands for legs, like those used by muggle gynaecologists.

"Spread your legs and put them there. Good. Now, when did this start and what exactly did you feel? " asked Tracey. She had cleaned the woman's thighs and was now performing different charms in order to assess what caused the bleeding as well as check on the baby.

"It has started about seven minutes ago. And I felt pain beneath my stomach, unbearable pain and I was quite dizzy. I came here as soon as possible. Tracey, please, tell me the baby is ok!" Astoria's voice was shaking and it was obvious that she was trying to keep her tears at bay.

The healer said nothing at first; she knew that her friend's baby hadn't survived. "I'm sorry," she began saying, but stopped when her patient's face crumpled and she started crying, her body was shaking, her sorrow completely enveloping her.

"No, no! My child!"

"I'm very sorry, but unfortunately, there's nothing I can do. Please spread your legs properly, I have to take it out."

"No, no!"

"Astoria! If I don't remove the foetus, it might bear consequences, dire ones, and you don't want that," the healer chided the whipping woman in a gentle manner. "Astoria, this is not your first miscarriage, you knew this might happen."

"Everything went so well and I don't understand…" Astoria trailed off; a new wave of tears went down her cheeks. "My child!"

Tracey was panicking on the inside. It was the first time she saw her friend cry like this, she had no idea how to calm her. "Should I send word to Draco?"

Hearing this, Mrs Malfoy quickly composed herself; her husband could not know of this miscarriage. 'This is exactly why I hadn't told him anything. If he were to find out that I lost a baby and my health was threatened as well, he would never consent to try for another child,' her thoughts ran through her head a mile per second.

"No, there's no need," she finally replied, her voice much more tranquil. "I just… Please do whatever you have to and let me go home, I will tell Draco myself."

Tracey sighed, but said nothing else. Instead she started on removing the dead foetus from Astoria's womb. In the meantime, Lady Malfoy turned her head towards the large window and watched as snowflakes were falling down. It was late January and she felt just as cold on the inside as it was outside. 'I should not lose hope! I had had two miscarriages before Scorpius was born. I will try again!'

* * *

**A quick poll for entertainment purposes:**

_Which of the following is your favourite activity?_

A) Reading books/comics/manga/fanfiction  
B) Writing poems/stories/lyrics  
C) Watching a film/TV series/cartoons/anime  
D) Other. Let me know!

**My own answer to the previous poll: **My favourite colour is green.

Review! ^_^


	13. Of unwanted worries and birthdays

**Author's Notes:  
**  
Well, here is the 12th chapter. This chapter and the next one are more of an in-between. So if it doesn't meet your expectations, I apologise.

Thank you so much for reading my story! And on the same note, the lack of feedback is a bit worrying. Do you like what I'm writing or should I change something?

Review please!

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no profit from this work of art. However, I do own the plot and some OCs. The image belongs to **charmontez**.

* * *

**Chapter 12. Of unwanted worries and birthdays**

Malfoy Manor was unusually silent, the eerie atmosphere residing in the house was suffocating, and a certain Draco Lucius Malfoy could not fully concentrate on the papers in front of him. He was sitting in his study, while examining some business plans his father gave him to check. Although he was working for the Ministry, he also had his inheritance to take care of, his father's business being part of it.

Lucius' health was deteriorating. Ten years in Azkaban, even without the presence of Dementors, had proven to be too much for the already battered man. He had started dry-coughing in November the previous year, which turned to wet-coughing in January, and that made him take numerous potions and regularly receive healers in his private quarters. Since Lucius couldn't manage everything on his own, Draco as the only Malfoy heir had the obligation to control some of the business' aspects instead of his father.

A knock on the door was heard.

"Come in."

Narcissa Malfoy, looking as beautiful as ever, came into her son's home-office, closing the door behind her. She almost floated towards Draco's bureau plat and sat on a chair. Across the writing table, she looked at her son with worry.

"Is everything alright, mother?"

"Not really," was her reply. "I'm worried about your wife, Draco. A couple of weeks ago, she was beaming with happiness, and now she looks very depressed. Is there anything bothering her?"

"I think it is because she hasn't got pregnant yet. We've been trying for a second child since September."

"Are you out of your mind, son? How can you even think of having another child? Are you not aware of the risks she'd undergo because of her pregnancy?" Narcissa's soft voice chided her only child.

"I am very much aware of the risks. It's her who wants to have another baby no matter what. I tried persuading her to give up, but she won't, she's too stubborn," Draco's head dropped, he couldn't meet his mother's disappointed gaze.

"But that isn't being stubborn, that is being foolish and highly irresponsible! If she were to perish because of this injudicious idea, Scorpius would be left without one of his parents!"

"Mother, please… I am very tired. I know very well the consequences of our actions and choices, but there's nothing I can do to change her mind. Just let me finish perusing these documents. Father wants my opinion and I would like to give it to him before I start working on my project at the Ministry."

"Your father also worries me, Draco. He's not getting any better and he has lost so much weight," gone was Narcissa's composed demeanour, she was now a desperate wife, whose husband was with one foot in the grave.

"I have talked to some healers and they suggested he went to Switzerland, they've got very modern and sophisticated methods of healing and also recovering. I think that it would do wonders for father. But he won't acquiesce easily, that is why you have to persuade him, mother. Even accompany him there, if needed."

"I will try to make him see reason. And I will certainly go with him. But what about the business? Will you be able to manage it and work, as well?" she asked, her voice now sounding just as tired as her child's.

"The project should take me about a month, so if you were to leave in late March or in April, I think I'll be able to do both, or even take some time off from work," answered Draco, massaging his temple with his long fingers.

"Thank you, Draco. I will leave you to your work, now. Andromeda is waiting for my reply; she has invited me to a play in Hertfordshire. I should have Letti deliver my note as soon as possible."

"I'm glad that you and my aunt have a closer relationship. Please, send her my regards. I hope you enjoy the show, mother" his voice was tranquil and smooth.

Narcissa Malfoy gracefully stood up, bid her son farewell and left his study. Draco sighed and continued reading the documents on his bureau.

* * *

It was 18 February and a dark-haired boy was sulking at the Slytherin table. The youngest Potter attending Hogwarts was picking at his food and wasn't laughing along with his peers. He couldn't believe that he was so far away from her, on one of the most important days of her life.

"Mate, come on! It is not your fault that you're missing your sister's birthday," said Am, fed up with his housemate's sour disposition.

"Besides, Al, you've already sent a gift and a birthday card, what else could you possibly do? It is not like you could ask McGonagall for a day off," added Scorp.

"It's Headmistress McGonagall, Scorpius," Rose chided him, and everybody else rolled their eyes. Trust Rosie to be so prim about everything. "But yes, they're right, Al. I know how you feel, for I have missed Hugo's birthday in December, as well. I'm sure Lily understands that. Besides she will be surrounded by family and our cousins, she won't be alone today."

"Yes, I know. But this day means so much to Lily-bee. And we've had this ritual for years..."

"What ritual, Al?" asked Lizzy, who was sitting opposite him.

"On every 18 December, my parents, James and I would wake her up, sing for her and give her lots of presents, and she would hug and kiss us. Then, mum would spoil us with a full English breakfast and dad would complain that his 'little princess' is growing up too fast and we would laugh. Afterwards, we'd prepare the house for a party, while Lily-bee is playing in her room. Nana would come and help mum cook lots of delicious stuff and spoil us rotten with sweets. Lil's birthday party is the best party ever, since she's the youngest of us all and, naturally, she's the most pampered by everybody. And I can't believe I'm not there with her."

"Well, it does sound cool," said Amor, "but, really, there is nothing you can do. I don't see your brother sulking."

"That's because James has whined about missing Lily's birthday for the entire past week," explained Rosie. "Dom said last year he did exactly the same, driving everybody in Gryffindor crazy."

"I'd say I pity them, but I don't," Am smirked after taking a gulp of pumpkin juice. "They deserve it, for being so drama-prone."

"I have to agree with you on that," Tristan said. "I mean that fellow, Dirk Quinby, is a complete nutter. Thank Merlin, we've only got flying with them once a week. I don't think I could've restrained myself from hexing him into the next month, if he were to keep on bragging about all the beasts he has seen and actually defeated. As if!"

"I don't think he is really that bad," Thea gave her opinion. "He said that he had encountered a Bidsie and was able to catch it. I've caught one, so it's not impossible."

"What is a Bidsie?" Rose asked confused.

"It resembles a bug, but its wings are much bigger, hence it flies incredibly fast. Bidsies are known for bringing good luck and harmony," the blue-eyed Slytherin explained. "I take it you've never seen one?"

"I don't think anybody has seen it, except you and Dirk, Thea," Lizzy responded trying very hard not to sound patronising. She really wanted to get along with her housemates, yet talking to Miss Doyle without accidently hurting her feelings wasn't an easy feat. But, Liz wasn't giving up anytime soon.

"It's alright. I would show it to you, but I set it free. However, the next time I see one I will bring it to you, so you could get acquainted with it," the girl kindly replied.

"Hmm, thanks Thea," Am smiled, however just as the rest of them, he wasn't sure he'd ever see a Bidsie, not to mention actually get acquainted with it.

With that the first years closed the subject and started talking about the upcoming Quidditch match. The Great Hall was rather empty, for it was a Hogsmeade weekend and most of the third year students and above were visiting the magical village.

* * *

In a newly-opened inn, Karsten was giving his girlfriend an early birthday present by making love to her for hours in a very romantic environment. Dominique had never received a better gift, two days early or not. Her sister, Victoire, was engaged in the same activities with her own boyfriend some hundred of miles away. When they were finally sated, Ted took her into his arms and caressed her soft blonde hair.

"I really missed you, Vic," he whispered, afraid that words would ruin the heavenly atmosphere.

"I missed you, too, love. How is auror training treating you? Even as distracted as I have been, I couldn't help noticing that your body is even sexier and leaner than it already was," she smirked, "but I'm not complaining, not at all."

"Well, you little minx, they've made me run quite a lot, and then some. But I'm happy that it is to your tastes," he playfully bit her shoulder. "How about you? You've written that everything was bearable, but you've lost weight, so there's something wrong. I'm worried about you, Vic."

"I'm alright. It's just these damned NEWTs and being a Head Girl and… it's too much sometimes."

"You wanted to add something else; being a Head Girl and what?"

Victoire wanted to lie, but she knew that he would see right through it. "And I miss you. Sweet Morgana, I can't sleep sometimes or even eat because I miss you so much. And having so many projects and homework doesn't help either. But please don't feel guilty. It is I who is so hormonal and… stuff."

Hearing her words, his heart was suddenly full to the brim with love for the young lady in his arms, and yet he felt responsible for her burden. "Vic, please, if you miss me, than write to me and I'll find a way to sneak into the castle. If needed, I will ask Al to give me his Cloak and James – the map, and I'll be able see you, no problem."

"But you've got training for almost the entire day and you have to eat, I can't have you skipping dinner just to be with me. And by the way, are you eating properly?"

"Don't worry, Vic, I could buy some muggle take-away or have grandma prepare something for me to take. And yes, I'm eating alright. It's either nana, grandmother or Ginny feeding me."

"Alright, when it gets unbearable I'll write to you or floo-call you. Oh, and about aunt Ginny, shouldn't you be going to Lily's birthday party? I hope you haven't forgotten to buy her a gift," Victoire said.

"Yes, I do have to go, but much later. And actually, I've already given it to her this morning. I went there to cheer her up, you know with both of her brothers being at school."

"Oh, aren't you the most considerate boyfriend ever?" Tory smiled at him. "How about I show just how glad I am that you're mine?"

With those at first glance 'innocent' words, they stopped talking and got involved into much more interesting activities, such as kissing, touching and joining their bodies as one…

* * *

"I thought we've already had this discussion," Hermione sighed, resting her head on her arms. She and Harry were currently occupying her office, once again arguing about a certain madman.

"I wish I could look for him, at least then I would be doing something!" he defended himself. "You know that I can't stand not knowing where this Xanthus is."

"You think that I don't feel the same way? Harry, I thought you knew me better than that," her voice was showing her disappointment.

"I know, Hermione, but still I- Argh! We know that he was in Southampton! I say we should check the area, again."

"Again? Harry we've checked it for three times now and we didn't find anything, not even a hint to where he might have left for. I think he's going to come here, in London, but we can't be sure what is going through that sick mind of his. And it's not like we're doing nothing at all. There are trackers and inspectors…"

"Yes, but I'm not there, Hermione! I'm sick and tired of staying in that office and waiting for some news, be they good or bad," he dejectedly ended his thoughts.

"Harry… Please, just be more patient. Sooner or later, Xanthus will make a mistake and we'll be able to catch him."

"Yeah, hopefully before he kills somebody," was his snide comment in response.

"Don't be like that," she softly said, her eyes – apologetic.

"I'm sorry. I'm frustrated and you have no blame in this whole situation. I should go," he stood up and was about to leave when she reminded him of the family brunch at the Burrow, that was to be held that Sunday. It was going to be a collective celebration of Ron, Fleur and Audrey's birthday, since they were all born around the same time, in early March.

"I won't. Ginny, Lily and I will be there. I'll make sure to bring Andromeda and Teddy, as well," he replied. "Good bye. See you around."

"Good bye, Harry. Take care and stop worrying so much."

With a slight nod, Harry left Hermione to her own thoughts. It was the first day of spring, and yet she felt frozen inside. She felt like something bad was bound to happen, but she didn't know what exactly. Hermione hoped that whatever storm was coming, her loved ones would survive it. 'I should take my own advice and stop worrying myself. Dwelling on bad things won't do me any good.'

* * *

There were lots of beautiful houses close to Regent's Park. Some of them were legacy from the Victorian era and others from when Kings Edward and George ruled. In one such beautiful house, now turned a mansion, was Karin's flat. It was rather large, with one bedroom, a spacious living room, a big kitchen that also served as a dining room, and a bathroom. The one, who bought the flat for his lover, was currently naked and resting.

"I can't believe that it's been more than a year since we've been together!" an equally undressed Karin cheerfully exclaimed.

"Neither can I, love," Ron replied with a lazy grin plastered on his face.

"I'm so happy that I can be with you on your birthday," she purred, rubbing her cheek against his chiselled chest. "Did you like my gift?"

"Of course," he answered.

'Who wouldn't like to have a sexy woman performing a striptease for him?' he thought, inwardly smirking.

What Ronald didn't know was Karin's reason behind this show. 'Damn! I thought he'd forget about the contraceptive charm. Just how long will it take for me to get pregnant?' She didn't want to admit it, but she had been worrying about that certain aspect of their intimate life for quite some time now. 'What if I never get the chance to get pregnant? No, I shouldn't think this way! I'm a confident and beautiful woman, sooner or later he'll lose his mind and I will be ready to attack!'

After a shared shower, the auror finally went home. He was greeted by his wife and son.

"Welcome home, Ron!" Hermione kissed him and he kissed her back. "Happy Birthday! I've prepared your favourite meals. Come!"

The three of them ate the delicious food and after Hugo went to sleep, Hermione guided him into their bedroom. She didn't turn on the lights.

"I love you," she whispered and started shedding her clothes.

"I love you, too, Hermione, but I'm too tired tonight. How about tomorrow?" he asked, his voice – aloof, his hand stopping her from unbuttoning her blouse.

"Tomorrow? Al-alright."

Unfortunately, because of the darkness, he couldn't see her eyes getting wetter by the second, perhaps he would've realised the way he treated his wife and rectified his behaviour. Then again, he might have not given a damn.

'What is happening to us?' she cried, however it was just in her thoughts. She couldn't find the strength to say it out loud. Hermione silently left the room to check on her son, as Ron was getting ready to sleep. 'I shouldn't worry, it'll pass. It will definitely pass,' she kept chanting to herself, however the tears streaming down her face were proof enough that she _was_ worrying and that she was hurt.

* * *

**Explanation of some things that might be confusing:**

**1. **A bureau plat is a writing table.

**2. **Take-away is the British equivalent for take-out or carry-out food.

**3. **Teddy refers to Andromeda as either grandmother or grandma, and to Molly as nana, just like the other Potter/Weasley kids.

**4. **About the place where Karin lives now. In London there lots of bog houses turned into what one would call an out-dated version of a block of flats (apartment complex), which are called mansions. Ex: Park Mansions, Victorian Mansions etc.

**5.** About Hermione and Ron's relationship. Well, it is deteriorating bit by bit, but I promise that in the end, the both of them will be happy. And their children will be happy, as well. Ron might not be my favourite, but neither is he my least liked character, far from it.

**A quick poll for entertainment purposes:**

_Which of the following is your favourite season?_

A) Spring  
B) Summer  
C) Autumn  
D) Winter. Let me know!

**My own answer to the previous poll: **My favourite activity is reading, be it a book, manga, encyclopaedia or fanfiction.


	14. Of correspondence and birthdays, part 2

**Author's Notes:  
**  
And here it is, the 13th chapter. As I mentioned before this chapter and the previous one are more of an in-between, and if it doesn't meet your expectations, I sincerely apologise. This chapter's style is rather different from the other ones'. I hope you'll like it.

Thank you so much for reading my story and adding it to your favourites!

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no profit from this work of art. However, I do own the plot and some OCs. The image belongs to **charmontez**.

* * *

**Chapter 13. Of correspondence and birthdays (part 2)**

_16 March 2018_

_Dear mum,_

_It is still quite cold and windy in Scotland. Due to this awful weather, I can't go outside much. You know how much I enjoy afternoon walks. As you told me, I'm always wearing my jumper, so I don't get ill like last year. _

_Little Sengen is very lazy as of late, she's not even playing with Amorette's Venus. I do not know how to make her more active. It is quite ironic, since her name's meaning is goddess of spring. Oh, well. I love my little Kneazle no matter what. Once again, thank you, mother, for such a beautiful pet._

_I have already started revising according to my study-time planner. I'm very grateful for this gift, as well. I find it very useful. I dedicate at least three to four hours per day to revising, just as you suggested. We – Amor, Sierra, Regina, Nell and I – have devised a very good timetable for extra-studying and even left open some slots for other students to join us. Al, Scorp, Thea, Am, Lizzy and Tristan join us whenever they have some free time. Oh, and Cameron, Octavia, Bowen and their own friends also come to study with us during weekends. _

_As I mentioned before, Charms and Potions are very interesting! The other day we have prepared a Boil-Cure Potion, and Professor Slughorn said that he had never seen one as good and potent as mine! The Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Mr Stump, is giving us so many essays to write and new jinxes and charms to practice, that some of my classmates can barely keep up. But, do not worry, I'm always prepared and hand in my assignments right on time. However, I have got something to ask you regarding History of Magic. Are we always going to study about Goblin rebellions? I'm not questioning the Hogwarts curriculum, but in "A History of Magic", there is so much more interesting information, and I'm afraid what we are covering during lessons won't be enough when we take our exams. _

_In about four days, it'll be Lizzy and Tristan's birthday. They aren't going to celebrate much, however I would be really grateful if you could send me the gifts I had pointed, when we were visiting Diagon Alley in January – the book about Wizarding Puppet Mastery for Liz and the Dragon-hide Quidditch gloves for Tristan. Albus told me that he was going to give him Dragon-hide shin and arm guards, so we're going to give him our presents together, as in a set._

_I miss you, dad and Hugo very much. I can't wait to see you._

_With Love,  
Rose_

* * *

_18 March 2018_

_Dear Rosie,_

_I'm sorry that the weather is so bad that you can't spend much time outdoors, but I am very glad that you've listened to my advice and take care of your health. Believe me, spending time in the hospital wing isn't fun at all. And I've heard that Madam Borage is just as stern as her predecessor, Madam Pomfrey. You do not want to find yourself under her care (she doesn't really let anybody visit her patients, don't ask me why)._

_I'm overjoyed that you are studying with so many fellow classmates from all the houses. Victoire and Neville had already written to me about your inter-house study groups, and every time I read about it, my heart swells with pride, my love. You are setting a very fine example, and I hope that other students will follow it, as well. _

_As for the History of Magic, there's nothing much one could do. I'm afraid Professor Binns is rather set on Goblin rebellions. If you were to read from chapter 1 to 11 in your book, you'd cover any information you might be asked at your exam._

_I've attached the gifts you have required – wonderful choices, darling. I hope that you enjoy yourself at their party, but don't stay awake until late. Birthday or not, it is still a school day, and you need your rest. I hope you will forward my advice to your friends and cousin. _

_We also miss you a lot. I look forward to seeing you during Easter, my beloved Rose._

_With Love,  
Your mother_

* * *

_21 March 2018_

_Dear Grandmother and Grandfather,_

_It is very unfortunate that you are leaving for Switzerland before I come home for Easter. Nonetheless, I understand that it is of utmost importance that Grandfather Lucius gets better. I wish him a quick recovery._

_I hope to see the both you at the end of my academic year. _

_Yours sincerely,  
Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy_

* * *

_25 March 2018_

_Dear dad / uncle George,_

_If you can read this letter, this means you have successfully decoded the encrypted message. Congratulations!_

_Now, about business. The troublesome trio is thriving and causing as much mayhem as possible… well, in good reason anyway. We haven't destroyed anything. Yet. But we did prank almost everybody in the school as per your advice and guidance. _

_We have more and more WWW supporters (and active customers) among all the students from the first till the seventh year. If things keep going the way they are at the moment, we will have to discuss the percentage we receive from the Hogsmeade annual sales and Diagon Alley summer sales._

_As an early birthday gift, we have attached a (very long) parchment containing all the pranks we have pulled thus far. We truly hope that you're going to have a good laugh reading it. Enjoy your present!_

_With utmost respect,  
Fellow pranksters (and new Marauders), your son – Fred and nephews – James and Paul _

_P.S. We have won the match against Ravenclaw, but they lost the one against Hufflepuff. Can you believe it? Hufflepuff! So, we have to win against them by 160 points, if we want to be ahead of Slytherin (somehow they had won against both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw). The problem is our captain is the brother of the puff's team. And our beater is her boyfriend. You kind of see the conflict here, don't you? _

_P.P.S. As soon as you read our letters, please, destroy them. You don't want mum on our backs for the rest of our lives. ~ Fred_

* * *

_10 April 2018_

_Love,_

_On Thursday, Al is going to lend me his Invisibility Cloak so I can leave Hogsmeade without being spotted by anybody else, to celebrate your 20__th__ birthday. I wouldn't miss it for the world. Especially for this occasion, Thaddeus and I had decided that the upcoming weekend is going to be a Hogsmeade one. I will be able to leave on Saturday morning and come back at the same time, the next day. Being a Head Girl, in situations like this, really comes in handy, don't you agree? *wink*_

_I have a surprise for you, but you're going to find out what it is only on Saturday, not even a day earlier. I'm cruel like that. *smile*_

_I can't wait to see you… I love you._

_Yours eternally,  
Victoire_

* * *

_16 April 2018_

_My beloved Vic,_

_Two days have passed since your visit, and I'm already missing you and still mesmerised by the spell you have put me under with your unbelievable gift. I've always found you gracious, alluring and gorgeous, but you dancing and shedding your clothes the way you did was breath-taking. Your body swaying to the music is imprinted beneath my eyelids and the way you smelled and tasted is going to be in my memory forever._

_You should see the funny looks the Senior Auror Savage throws me. Today, he had to snap me out of my day-dreaming during our training with a Trip Jinx. Then, he told something like "I've no idea who had bewitched you like this, and I really don't want to know, but you'd better pull yourself together." There was an 'or' as well, followed by some threatening, but I really can't remember. Well, the thing is you have bewitched me, you little minx._

_I love you. See you at the ball._

_Yours forever,  
Ted_

* * *

_19 April 2018 _

_Dear Madam Weasley,_

_I am writing to you concerning the Xanthus case. We have found some evidence that the fugitive has been in Muggle Cardiff about a week ago. A muggle Hindi street vendor had talked to him on 7 April 2018. We have stumbled upon this information due to extraordinary events, about which my colleague, auror Otavitsky, will report to you on Monday, 23 April. She will temporarily leave our operation in order to deliver the aforementioned vendor's memories, so they could be examined in great detail for any hint as to the fugitive's current whereabouts. _

_Yours sincerely,  
Senior auror Williamson _

_P.S. Head Auror Potter should receive a similar letter the same time you do. If he doesn't, that means that our mission has been uncovered by either Xanthus himself or his accomplices. I think Head Auror's theory regarding the existence of the criminal's allies is quite plausible._

* * *

_28 April 2018_

_Dear Tracey,_

_It seems that the heavens have blessed me with yet another baby. I'm quite sure it was the Easter Bunny who brought me this joy. As I have had a miscarriage in the past six months, I would like to have an appointment with you as soon as possible. According to a spell I have performed, I am 26 days pregnant. _

_I would be grateful if our meeting stayed off-records. Discretion in such matters is very important to me._

_Yours sincerely,  
Astoria Malfoy_

* * *

_29 April 2018_

_Dear Astoria,_

_I'm truly happy for you. However, I am also worried. We both know the risks, but it is your decision, so there is nothing I can do. _

_Our meeting will take place on 1 May, at 9 am. _

_Is Draco coming with you?_

_Yours sincerely,  
Healer Tracey Boot_

* * *

_30 April 2018_

_Dear Tracey,_

_Thank you very much. I know that you are worried. Believe me, I am also very nervous about it, but I'm not giving up, not now, not ever._

_Unfortunately, Draco is much too busy with both his work at the Ministry and dealing with the family business. I will come alone._

_I will see you tomorrow at 9 am._

_Yours sincerely,  
Astoria Malfoy_

* * *

**Explanation of some things that might be confusing:**

_**1.**__ Sengen_ is the Japanese Shinto Goddess of Fujiyama, the highest mountain in Japan, considered the most holy. As mentioned in the chapter itself, _Sengen_, also known as _Ko-No-Hana_ is the Goddess of Spring – the Blossom Princess.

In my story, _Sengen_ is the name of Rosie's Kneazle – a Christmas gift from her mother and father, by affiliation.

**A quick poll for entertainment purposes:**

_Which of the following is your favourite Slytherin?_

A) Draco Malfoy  
B) Tom Riddle (crazy and highly unlikely, I know)  
C) Andromeda Tonks nee Black  
D) Severus Snape  
E) Other. Let me know!

**My own answer to the previous poll: **My favourite season is spring, when everything comes to life, it's warming up, and the raining season beggins (it's the UK after all).

Please review!


	15. Of remembrance and endings

**Author's Notes:  
**  
And here it is, the 14th chapter and the last one depicting Al's first year. Yes, people, in this chapter, you'll read about the last two academic months of our favourite characters. I'm so happy, I could cry!

Thank you so much for reading my story, adding it to your favourites and alerts, and reviewing! The more you review the faster I write new chapters and post them.

The thing is I have three more written chapters and my muse is rather absent nowadays. So your support would really mean a lot.

In reply to an **anonymous/guest **reviewer – I'm so grateful to you for your comment! And you don't have to apologise for a long feedback; the longer it is, the happier I am! And yes, the development of the Xanthus case will very soon become a turning point, which will change everything rather drastically. Writing the previous chapter was really fun, though a bit hard. I think I will use that method again. Once again, thanks!  
P.S. You haven't answered the poll question. ^_^

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no profit from this work of art. However, I do own the plot and some OCs. The image belongs to **charmontez**.

* * *

**Chapter 14. Of remembrance and endings**

It was a beautiful day of early May. The Forbidden Forest was flourishing with life and greenery. The water in the Black Lake was crystal clear and glistening under the sun. The Medieval castle and its grounds were unusually quiet. Hundreds of students, teachers, parents and Ministry officials, amongst whom the Minister for Magic himself, were all standing near the loch, their eyes closed.

Headmistress McGonagall had just given her speech in remembrance of the Second Wizarding War, and it was followed by a two minute silence. Some of the guests in attendance, who had felt the horrors of the civil war on their own skin, were already shedding silent tears. As the moments of silence ended, everybody sat down. The next to pay his respects to the fallen was the Minister Slacklebolt, his eyes weary and sad smile almost non-existent.

"Today, 20 years after that fateful night, we still feel and mourn the loss of our beloved friends, family and even mere acquaintances. I have been there, in the midst of it all, and there's nothing more tragic than watching somebody one used to love and care about fall; fall and never to come back.

"We shall always remember that night, as well as what had preceded and followed it. Yes, it had been a constant struggle and fight against the Dark forces, however sometimes we forget the most important thing, it was a fight against prejudice, greed, corruption and cruelty. After that night, the world as we had known it was in ruins and we had to start anew. We rebuilt the beautiful castle of Hogwarts – the legacy we had been left by the previous generations, the legacy we shall leave for the younger ones. We reformed our Ministry, making it more durable, more equitable and more dependable. We reconstructed the entire Wizarding system, so our children could have a better life; could never notice the cracks the war had left behind.

"It is my utmost hope that we shall never relive those painful moments many of us had been through, that we have learnt from our mistakes and now we can teach them to the generations to come. It was the Ministry's decision that in remembrance of the fallen brave men, women and children, we shall have a war memorial bearing their names," he concluded, and with his hand he motioned to his left and the audience's right.

A big white marble sculpture was revealed with a swish of Kingsley's wand and those attending clapped. The massive monument was at least three metres high and represented an arch with carved intricate motifs and ornaments, and a big Phoenix made out of gold resting atop of it. The names of the war victims and heroes were written in golden joined-up writing among the memorial's embellishments. Under the Phoenix' claws, in big golden letters was carved an epitaph: '_Pax vobiscum'_.

As 2 May was such an important day, almost everybody who was somebody was present at the event, which would be later followed by a ball. To the right side of the Minister were seated the Hogwarts staff, some with their heads down, others dabbing at their eyes with a handkerchief. Near a sad Neville and his beautiful wife, Hanna, were Harry and Ginny Potter, her brother and sister-in-law beside them. Hermione was quite close to all the heads of other departments and offices, among which Blaise, Theodore, Percy* and Arthur with their own better halves. Other officials like Draco Malfoy, Dean and Padma Thomas, Michael and Parvati Corner, Anthony Goldstein, Eddie and Daphne Carmichael, Cormac McLaggen were also in attendance.

All the students and their parents were part of the audience, as well as some foreign delegates and even more Ministry workers. They were seated in rows and two columns, the first seats of one column being occupied by first years, the second line – by second years and so on. The foreign dignitaries, the workers and the students' parents were seated in the other column. The Hogwarts' pupils were wearing the school's uniform, while those who didn't live in the castle sported beautiful dress-robes in what seemed all the hues in the entire world. Al even saw a man with a puke-green mantle with fuchsia ornaments on it. It definitely didn't agree with nor compliment the wizard's dark skin.

* * *

About 30 minutes later, the event came to an end and everybody was invited inside the castle, for some refreshments and brunch. The Great Hall had its interior changed a bit. No longer were there four tables designated for each Hogwarts house, instead there were lots of smaller round tables to accommodate either 12 or 16 people. At each table occupied by students, there were three or four representatives from each house. Al was seated with Scorp and Lizzy from Slytherin, Roman Montague, Tristan and Nell Pembroke from Ravenclaw, Dirk Quinby, Mary-Anne Predington and Cameron from Gryffindor, and Geoffrey Granaham, Yvonne Herbert and Orvin Jarvis from Hufflepuff.

"I think they chose the students alphabetically," whispered Amor to both Rose and Sierra. Their table was for 16 people, "A bit overcrowded, don't you think?"

"It's alright," smiled Rosie, "it could've been a worse arrangement. Poor Thea has nobody to keep her company at her table. At least, not good company." Thea was seated near Caoimhe, and the girl was known for talking non-stop.

The young Zabini just shrugged. "I just wish we were with Al, Scorp and Lizzy. Right, Am?"

Her brother just nodded and eagerly ate his crumpets. Amor rolled her eyes. "He's always eating, isn't he?"

"Amorette, he's a boy and he's growing. What did you expect?" Sierra giggled, putting some jam on her pastry.

Rose who was quite used to boys eating a lot and constant bickering between siblings didn't even pay attention to it. She had something else on her mind. Not too far from her, there were her uncles, aunts and parents. What bothered her was her dad's scowl. She wasn't sure whether his grimace was due to remembering his brother having died twenty years ago or something else. Even her grandmother, who had been crying during the previous event, was now smiling. Rosie also noticed that her mum would throw worried glances towards him. 'Why would daddy be so morose?'

* * *

Meanwhile, Astoria Malfoy was trying to hold in her breath as much as possible. Somebody at her table seemed to be a big fan of warm gravy, and its smell made her stomach churn. Being at the very start of her first trimester meant that she wasn't experiencing morning nausea yet, however some 'odours' could make her lose not only her appetite but stomach contents, as well.

"Astoria, dear, are you alright?" asked a concerned Draco. "You are rather pale. Do you need some water or do you want to go to the hospital wing to lie down a bit?"

"I'm alright. I just need to go the bathroom."

"I shall accompany you. Let's go," he offered her his hand, and they left the Great Hall.

"Why are my parents leaving?" thought Scorpius aloud.

"They have left?" Al inquired, looking at the table previously occupied by the Malfoy couple. Then he turned his attention towards his own father and mother and seeing them there, shrugged at his friend. "I don't know, mine are still here. Perhaps they had to take care of something, they will come back. I'm sure."

* * *

It was around 7pm, and the Great Hall was rather empty, for the exception of some little round tables for six along the length of the halls' walls. The place, where once was the staff table, was now occupied by a stage, on which could be found different instruments and a little podium for the choir, their performance beginning at 8 pm for about two hours, and a band, that would be playing afterwards till midnight. Everything was prepared for the ball.

Victoire and her closest friends, Idelle and Raphaela, were getting ready in the Head Girl's personal chambers. The living arrangements for the Head Students were a bit different, as the entrance to their much larger room was in their respective common rooms. Tory wanted to look as gorgeous as possible, hence inviting her friends to join her. A third party's opinion was rather important in situations like this.

"Do you think Ted would appreciate this dress?" Victoire asked her friends, motioning to her Grecian themed Lobelia bleu gown.

"Tory, are you crazy? This dress compliments you in every possible way: your blue eyes, your hair, your height and body. The moment Ted sees you, he'll want to take you right there in the Entrance Hall," gushed Idelle. The Head Girl blushed at the last comment, and once again looked in the enormous mirror to arrange her updo hairstyle. The little headbands, sporting the same colour as her dress, with the use of some charms kept the entire 'state of the art' creation in place.

"Idelle is right, you look amazing," added Raphaela. "Now stop worrying and help me adjust the straps of my dress, there are so many of them!"

The other two girls started laughing, but did help the Prefect.

* * *

"Tory and I bought matching dresses," Dominique explained to her best friend. Although, Dom's gown was white, it also had an Ancient Period air to it. "But unlike my sister, I have red hair and it was rather difficult choosing a colour that wouldn't clash with it. Do you think I look good?"

Edeline Fleet rolled her eyes. "As two minutes ago, the answer is still the same. You are drop-dead gorgeous. And stop fidgeting! I'm trying to put in these damned hairpins."

"Sorry. And thank you once again for helping me," Dominique smiled. "I hope Karsten will like my dress as well."

"Of course he will. By the way, your father is going to be here tonight, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is. I'm rather nervous about that. I mean what if he found out about us sleeping together?" wondered the red-head.

"Well, let's hope that his part-werewolf senses won't catch the boy's smell on you," smirked Edeline. "Because if he does, then I'll have to find a new best friend and Gideon will have to find a new keeper for the upcoming match with Hufflepuff. Not to mention two other prefects for our year."

"Edeline, you're not helping!"

* * *

"You look ravishing and were it not for your father, who is currently throwing prophetical non-real daggers into my back, I would take you out of here in an eye-blink," Ted whispered into his girlfriend's ear. He grinned when he felt her shivering with anticipation and delight.

The ball had started some 45 minutes before, and almost everybody was dancing in the Great Hall under the classical melody the orchestra was playing. The remembrance ball was a one in a decade event and every student from the fifth year and above was present, as well as local and foreign Ministry officials, business men, survivors of the war and parents of students.

"As soon as he leaves, I'm all yours," the blonde promised to the metamorphmagus.

"Good, I can't wait."

Near the dancing couple, was another one, consisting of Hermione and Ron Weasley, the latter looking less stressed and he was even smiling.

"You're in a better mood than you were at brunch," commented his wife. "Was it because of Fred?"

"Yeah… Never mind, I'm alright now."

Hermione soft features turned into a warm smile and she embraced her husband even closer. 'Perhaps, his crisis has passed and I'll have my husband back in no time.'

"I'm glad. You were so upset, I thought that you wouldn't come to the ball at all," she told him.

"Well, a stroll through the park helped me clear my mind," Ron shrugged.

"Really? What park was it?"

"Regent's Park," he responded absent-mindedly.

"Yes, it's a beautiful park. I know Harry used to take the kids there. There is a playground and they seemed to adore it," said Hermione.

* * *

"I missed this place," said Harry Potter admiring the Black Lake.

His wife was currently embraced by him and she was softly humming under her breath. "I missed it as well. It was a rather beautiful night. Don't you agree?"

"Absolutely. Unfortunately none of our kids will be able to attend while still at Hogwarts. Somehow it feels different when you go to such events when you're still a student."

"Yeah," Ginny replied, her eyes closing. "I'm quite tired. How about we go to Audrey's, take Lily and then go home?"

"It's a good idea. Hopefully, she's already sleeping. Let's just say goodbye to everybody and head home. Percy might come with us," he said and started guiding them towards the castle. "I'm really glad that we could see all of our friends."

"Me too, Harry. Me too…"

* * *

"Hey, Scorp," whispered Albus, nudging his friend, who was currently very much asleep. Then, he tried a little louder, "Scorp!"

"Wha-what? I didn't take the broom!" the blonde suddenly sat up in his bed, looking around confused.

"What broom are you talking about?" asked his best friend.

"Doesn't matter. I thought it was my grandmother checking whether I took father's broom without permission."

"You still dream about that? Didn't it happen like ages ago?" Al ran his through his already messy hair.

"Nightmares, mate, not dreams. You haven't met my grandmother and her looks, you don't know what it's like. Now, why have you woken me up at -," Scorpius looked at his wrist watch,"5am? Albus, I'll kill you! I want to bloody sleep!"

"Are you stupid or did you forget what day it is today?"

"What day is it today?"

"12 May, the day I turn 12 and -," he urged his friend to remember.

"- and the prank day," finished the boy, his consciousness fully recovered. "Almighty Salazar, why haven't you said that from the very start? Let's go and prepare everything!"

"I know, just keep your voice down, we don't want to wake up the entire castle," said Al. "Now, let's just wake Ambrose up, go to the common room and pray that Liz hasn't forgotten about our plans."

* * *

12 May was a beautiful Saturday, with a lot of sunshine, late spring breeze, fluffy clouds and a light floral odour. Headmistress McGonagall felt very rejuvenated when she left her private chambers and couldn't wait to join the Hogwarts stuff and students at breakfast. The thoughts about finally resigning from her post, which sometimes would plague her mind, flew out the window. She had always found the castle as something borrowed from a fairy-tale, a place where one felt safe and protected, yet full of rambunctious students and sometimes weird professors. Be it as it may, these factors only added to the school's charm and it just called to you to explore it, become a part of this 'family' and never leave it.

When Minerva McGonagall entered the Great Hall from the back door she was suddenly reminded why exactly she wanted to resign. The Hall, for the lack of a better description, resembled some kind of jungle, and not a figurative one. The walls were covered with green moss, the chairs had been either replaced by or turned into boulders, hanging from the ceiling were lianas, from which two students were hanging upside down, and the tables were covered with greenery and little animals, which despite their tiny forms were making a lot of noise.

'That had better not be the school's chinaware,' she thought. The other students were either standing at the entrance of the Hall or actually playing with the creatures. Those by the main doors were pointing at something behind the Headmistress, and she turned her head in order to see what they were looking at. In dark green paint the entire window behind the teachers stuff was written: "_Love and hail the King! Let us all celebrate and sing!_"

Minerva could think of only three students who could've done it, all of them currently laughing their heads off. "James Potter, Fred Weasley, Paul Jordan! My office, now!"

Their smiles disappeared in about a second, "But we didn't do it!"

"And you think I'm going to believe that?" she inquired, one of her eyes twitching – never a good sign. "I will repeat, my office, now!"

Seeing that the professor was rapidly losing her cool, Paul started dragging his friends towards the already leaving headmistress. "Mate, we'd better go before it gets worse."

As they were trailing after her, James caught Albus and his merry bunch smirking and high-fiving each other. 'That little snake! Oh, I will get him!'

* * *

"This was the best plan ever!" exclaimed Sierra, watching the hanging students struggling to detach themselves from the lianas. "We should make it a tradition!"

"Yes, it is funny, but I'm kind of sorry for James, Fred and Paul," Rosie muttered sheepishly.

"Oh, come on, Rose! We didn't say that they have done this, the professor assumed it based on their fame as troublesome pranksters. Even if this hasn't been my initial intention, it's a rather good payback for all those years of teasing," said Al trying to reassure his cousin.

"Well, I guess you're right. However, if parents get involved we'll have to come out with the truth."

"Alright, I'll say I did this," Al replied. "All of you don't have to get involved, besides it's my birthday, mum will go easy on me."

"Mate, we did this together, so we will be punished together as well," exclaimed Scorpius, and their friends nodded in agreement.

"Well, let's not think about the bad stuff. How about we take that picnic basket you've prepared, Amor, and head out?" asked Lizzy.

"Yeah, let's go," agreed the others. As they were leaving the Great Hall they saw Professors Flitwick and Switch rush inside in order to turn everything back to normal. The first to start giggling was Thea, soon followed by the laughter of her friends.

When the merry bunch had finally settled down under a big tree by the lake, Al looked at his friends surrounding him and smiled. "I think this is the best birthday ever," he declared. "Thank you!" His female friends returned his smile, while the male ones smirked.

"Glad to hear that it is to your taste, King," teased Scorpius and started sipping on his pumpkin juice.

* * *

The turmoil that was the rest of May passed in an eye blink. First they celebrated Scorpius' birthday on a much smaller scale than Al's, and in the midst of taking their exams – Rosie's birthday. Once they got the results, they found out that Rose, Tristan and Thea were the top three students in the year, their friends being in the top 15. The hours and days passed by at the speed of light, Gryffindor won the Qudditch Cup (the team's smirk was glued to their faces 24/7), yet it was Ravenclaw who won the House Cup (Victoire couldn't have been more proud).

Before they knew it, everybody was in the red train, taking them to King's Cross Station.

"It was an amazing year," said Amor out of the blue.

"Yeah, it was," agreed Scorpius. "But next year is going to be much better!"

"We'll make sure of that," added Sierra.

"Before looking so far ahead, we'd better focus on this summer," suggested Al grinning. "I bet I could convince dad to let us have another slumber party."

"Mate, sorry to break it to you, but your mother seemed all too relieved to get rid of us as soon as possible, last time," Ambrose said from his place, where he was feigning to sleep. "Besides, Amorette and I are travelling this summer through Latin America."

"What? Why haven't you told me earlier?" inquired Rose looking at her friend. "I wanted us to go to that fair I told you about at the end of July."

"Sorry," the girl mumbled. "But, Am and I have received these news only this morning and I forgot to tell you. How about we go next year?"

"Amor, I told you it's a once-in-five-year event," replied the red-head. "But, there's nothing we could, so we'll go next time. Promise me we will go next time!"

"I promise!" exclaimed Amorette and hugged her friend, glad that Rose wasn't upset with her.

The compartment door opened and the madam with the trolley looked inside. "Would you like something, dears?"

* * *

"I'm glad you could come, Astoria," said Healer Boot, diverting her attention from her papers to look at her friend. "I received your analysis results and I wanted to discuss them with you."

Mrs Malfoy was rather pale and her eyes were sad. "Is it bad?"

"It's been a bit more than a month since you had yet another miscarriage. Your pregnancy lasted just 7 weeks, of course it's going to be bad. I'm tired of pampering you if you keep on being so stubborn. You're supposed to be smart, Astoria!"

"Tracey, you have two children, you should be able to understand me."

"Yes, I do. But, I'm also a healer and I know just how dangerous this is," her voice got louder. Astoria kept herself composed, yet her eyes betrayed her despair. Studying her face, Tracey took in a deep breath and her tone was more caring and calm. "Your chances of getting pregnant and seeing it through are rather small. You have waited way too much time since giving birth. A woman is more fertile within seven years from her last successful pregnancy, and the chances of having another baby are much higher.

"In your case, it was impossible to give birth in seven months after Scorpius. You were really weak and another pregnancy at that time would've ended in a catastrophe. I could tell you what's wrong with your and Draco's genes, chromosomes and so on and so forth, but in the end, the result is still the same – I don't think you could have another baby."

Tracey truly thought that her former housemate would start crying, but Astoria sported the same blank expression, as if she was hearing what the healer said through a veil.

"If you want a baby that much, why won't you adopt?"

If looks could kill, Tracey would've been in the morgue, four storeys lower. "I don't just want a baby! I want a child with Draco's hair, features and wit, and my personality. I want to carry him in my womb and give birth to it. I won't settle for a second best!"

Mrs Boot was very sorry for her friend. "There's nothing I can do."

"I'm grateful for your time and consideration. Good bye," with a nod, Astoria left, her cloak billowing after her.

* * *

**Explanation of some things that might be confusing:**

**1**_**.**__ Pax Vobiscum_, from Latin, means 'May peace be with you'. [Plural 'you']

**2. **About Percy* - he was the one of the few who had come to the Remembrance Day without his wife, as she is a muggle. As you might know, the charms protecting Hogwarts are much stronger than those protecting other places visited by magic folk, like Diagon Alley, the Ministry, St. Mungo's and so on. As a result, Audrey, being a muggle, wouldn't have been able to actually see the school and even residents, so she hadn't come and stayed at home taking care of her own daughter, nephews and nieces.

**3. **Here are the positions of the Ministry workers I have mentioned, in the order they had appeared: **Harry Potter** – Head of the Auror Office (Department of Magical Law Enforcement - DMLE), **Hermione Weasley nee Granger** – Head of DMLE, **Ron Weasley** – auror (DMLE), **Blaise Zabini** – Head of Department of Magical Games and Sports (DMGS), **Theodore Nott** – Head of International Magical Office of Law (Department of International Magical Cooperation – DIMC), **Marianne Nott nee Clarkson **– DIMC, **Percy Weasley** – Head of Department of Magical Transportation (DMT), **Arthur Weasley** – Head of the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects (DMLE), **Draco Malfoy** – Senior Unspeakable, all levels (Department of Mysteries - DM), **Dean Thomas** – DMLE, **Padma Thomas nee Patil** – Junior Assistant to the Minister for Magic, **Michael Corner** – auror (DMLE), **Parvati Corner nee Patil** – unspeakable, Hall of Prophecies (DM), **Anthony Goldstein** – Floo Network Authority (DMT), **Eddie Carmichael** – unspeakable, Space Chamber (DM), **Daphne Carmichael** nee Greengrass – unspeakable, Brain Room (DM), **Cormac McLaggen **– DMGS.

**4. **The ball is held on every 10th anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts. In every other year, the Headmistress gives a speech in the Great Hall and all the students are present, which is followed by a two minute silence.

**5. **Victoire's dress can be found here (remove the spaces): www. ukroyaldress images/fme0018. jpg  
Her updo hairstyle: www. weddingmagazine. co. uk/ images/hair_beauty/ Hair%20-%20updos/ Wedding_0743. jpg  
Dom's dress: www. frenchnovelty mm5/graphics/ S10-LF-15027xtra. jpg  
Dom's coiffure: glamourbuzzz. files. wordpress 2011/12/hair_profile-of-casual-messy-updo_very-french_found-on-sweet-nothings-blog. jpg

**6. **Astoria lost the second baby after 7 weeks.

**7. **About Ron's sudden change of demeanour. Guess who lives near Regents' Park?

**A quick poll for entertainment purposes:**

_Which of the following is your favourite Magical Family?_

A) The Blacks  
B) The Malfoys  
C) The Potters  
D) The Weasleys  
E) The Dumbledores  
F) Other. Let me know!

**My own answer to the previous poll: **My favourite Slytherin is Draco Malfoy and other – Regulus Black.

Please review! Cheers!


	16. Of good times and tragedies

**Author's Notes:  
**  
So here it is, the 15th chapter. This chapter starts rather brightly, however as the title suggests, ends with a tragedy. I hope that you won't be disappointed.

Thank you very much for reading my story, adding it to your favourites, putting it on alert, and reviewing! When you review, I feel more inspired, therefore I write much more and update much faster.

Dear readers, your support means the world to me. Thank you!

In reply to **Cassie Rita Marie** – I'm so grateful to you for reviewing! I'm glad that you like it. And as a thank you, I have updated much sooner, than I had previously planned. I wrote another chapter today, as well. Thank you for inspiring me! By the way, don't forget to answer the poll next time.

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no profit from this work of art. However, I do own the plot and some OCs. The image belongs to **charmontez**.

* * *

**Chapter 15. Of good times and tragedies**

"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, dear Harry! Happy Birthday, to you!" singing could be heard coming from the back of the Burrow.

Surrounded by greenery, a very long table was covered to the brim with lots of food and a big cake; around it were adults and children singing. A green-eyed man in his late thirties was trying to blow the 38 candles out. As it wasn't humanely possible, his children helped him. As they finished their very important task, everybody started clapping and cheering.

"Alright, alright! Keep it down!" admonished an almost weeping Molly. "Harry, dear, here is the knife."

Harry took it and started cutting his birthday cake into even pieces. His wife, Ginny, added by her sisters-in-law, was putting a slice of it on each plate. As soon as they received their share, Hugo and his father appeared to be competing against the other one, as to which of them would eat it faster. Hermione just shook her head at their antics and hoped that they wouldn't get indigestion.

"Very mature, Ickle Ronniekins," teased George. Ron however hadn't paid much attention to his older brother and kept on swallowing bite after bite.

"Merlin, Hugo, slow down! Or you will choke!" exclaimed Lily beside him. Roxy, Lucy and she looked disgusted by their cousin's table manners.

"How you spend so much time in his company I will never understand," said Lucille turning away.

"Well, he has pig tendencies only when there's food around, otherwise he's normal," the youngest child in the family replied.

"Are you sure?" asked Roxanne. "I think I'm going to puke," and just like her cousin turned away from the awful picture in front of her.

Rosie, who had heard their discussion, looked at her brother and true enough, he was eating at an alarming speed. Taking pity on his not fully developed physique, she approached him, stopped him from taking another bite and started lecturing him about the consequences of his actions. The boy lost his appetite in a matter of seconds.

"You know, dear sister of mine, your child seems to be your doppelganger," George told Hermione. "Were there any rituals involved when you conceived her that we are not aware of? Or maybe special positions?"

The brown-haired woman blushed and chose to ignore his innuendoes. His wife, however, had no such plans. She promptly smacked him on the back of the head. "There are children here, idiot," she whispered in his ear. "Stop goofing around and do something useful like pouring some wine into your mother's glass."

"Bill has already done that," he answered, rubbing the spot where she slapped him.

"Alright. Then add Fleur bring in the teapot and the cups of coffee from the house," she urged her husband.

"Percy and Tory are doing that," he said grinning.

"Then ask them if they need more help!"

"Merlin, woman, why do you have to be so pushy?"

"Are you complaining?" her look turned murderous.

"No," was his instant reply.

As George got up and went towards the house, Charlie passed by him. "Whipped," he sniggered.

His younger sibling rolled his eyes and went inside.

* * *

"I cannot believe you're doing this!" exclaimed healer Boot.

"Tracey, calm down. I have a good feeling about this baby," stated Astoria. She was beaming with happiness.

"Astoria, what -," she didn't finish her sentence. The healer sighed and shook her head. "You're a fool. It's been only 3 weeks, if you were to stop it now, your body wouldn't suffer much damage."

"No. I want it. You said that the chances were very small and yet here we are. I didn't come here for you to lecture me; I came here for you to check whether everything was alright."

Tracey said nothing and started swishing her wand up and down her friend's body and casting some incantations, while pointing at the woman's belly.

"Are there any problems?"

"There aren't any at the moment," she replied. "But, there will -"

"That's all I wanted to hear," exclaimed Mrs Malfoy cheerfully, and after bidding farewell, she left.

* * *

"So how is the case going?" Percy asked his brother-in-law.

"We haven't caught Xanthus yet, but we know that he left for Oxfordshire," replied Harry, picking at his slice of cake.

"So he's getting closer to London," Bill voiced everyone's thoughts.

"Yes, he is," confirmed Hermione. "Harry here, Williamson, Dunne and Otavitsky are all of the opinion that he isn't a sole player, but I'm not so sure of that."

"'ave you got any idea who could possibly be 'iz accomplices?" asked Fleur.

"Yes, we have some guesses, but there is no proof. However we're keeping an eye on all of them," replied Harry. "Almost a year has passed since we were made aware of his 'plans' and we still haven't caught him."

"It's very unfortunate, but do not worry yourself too much," said Molly in her full mother-hen mode. "Otherwise, you'll get ill and start suffering from insomnia."

"Or hair-loss. And we wouldn't want that, would we?" joked George, and instantly the mood got lighter.

"Well, enough about work and deranged wizards," declared the matriarch. "How about Tory describes to us what healer training is like?"

Victoire, who had been previously whispering dirty things into her boyfriend's ear, turned in his lap towards her family and started telling them about her superiors and fellow trainees. Idelle Davies and she were the only students among those who had graduated that year, to apply for a course in the healthcare field.

"We really don't do much practice, but we do have lots of theory lessons," she finished.

"Well, you have just started, of course there wouldn't be many practical activities," commented Audrey. "But, you'll see that once they've given you the basic information, they will start with that part as well."

"Yeah, I know," Tory replied. "We were told that in about two months there will be lots of new charms and potions to learn. According to our progress we will start assisting some healers, in order to get a grasp of what it's like to work in the hospital and, after a while, actually help them and treat patients."

"I'm sure you'll be wonderful at it," said Hermione.

"Thank you, aunt Hermione. Hopefully, I'll start with treating patients in about four or five months. I can't wait!"

"Of course, you will, Vic. You are so talented," Ted assured her.

"That is right. We are very proud of you," said Bill, his voice brimming with love and adoration.

* * *

"Mother, can I come in?" asked Scorpius from outside his parents' bedroom.

"Of course."

Scorpius went inside, closing the door after him. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm fine, dear. Was there anything you wanted?" asked Astoria, as she rose from her dressing table and approached her son, so she could hug him.

"Hmm, yes, there was. You see Al wrote to me and he was thinking of having another slumber party," said the boy.

"Another one? Are you sure? Last time, when I saw his father, he was rather tired after having all of you at his house."

"Well, this time it would be just him, Rose, and me. His brother is going to be at one of his cousins' house, and his sister is with his grandmother," he replied. "Al proposed I went to him after Mrs Ginny's birthday, which is in three days."

"And for how long would you be staying there?"

"I guess about four days," was his answer. "Please, can I go? I haven't seen him since our visit to Diagon Alley in mid-July."

"Alright, you can go," said his mother. "I will write to Mrs Potter and see how and when you will get to their house."

The boy thanked her and was about to leave, when Astoria told him that his grandparents wanted to see him. "Alright, I will go to grandfather's study, now."

* * *

"Hi! I haven't seen you for a long time, now!" exclaimed Rose as she approached Scorpius. He had just come into the house, her uncle Harry at his side.

"Hello! Yes, it's been a while," the boy agreed. "Where is Al?"

"He's in the kitchen helping aunt Ginny, he's waiting for us there."

"Well, you two go downstairs and I should go to work," said Harry. "Have a good day."

"You, too, uncle Harry!" replied Rose and Scorpius added, "Thank you, sir."

"Good bye," and with that the Head Auror left.

"Let's go. This is going to be amazing," declared Rosie.

Scorpius smirked and followed her. It was going to be amazing indeed.

* * *

13 August was a rather warm day and full of light, but it would rain from time to time. Since it was Monday, wizards were either going to work, staying at home or exploring some village or another. A Head of a Ministry Department such as Hermione Weasley was definitely going to work. She had lots of papers and documents to peruse, fill in, send to other officials or simply sort out. 'I'm already starting seeing them in my sleep.'

That morning she was rather late and her husband had long since left, thus she had to travel alone to her workplace. As Hermione made her way towards her office, she heard her name being called. She turned towards the one to call her and saw a rather dishevelled Teddy running her way.

"Hello, Teddy! Has something happened?"

"Yes. Senior Auror Savage has just received a note from Senior Auror Williamson. It's about the Xanthus case. He was seen in London."

"What? Where exactly?"

"I don't know all the details. He said he was going to Harry's office to give him the note."

"Thank you, Teddy. I'm going to be there in five minutes, just let me drop off my cloak and bag," she told him. "You should go back."

"See you later," he said and left.

* * *

"We should -," Harry was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in."

Hermione quickly went inside, greeted everybody and took a place near her best friend. "Can I see the note?"

"Yes, here it is," replied Harry and gave her the letter. Then he turned towards Savage. "As I was saying, you should take Corner, Trowler and Stretton, and start perusing the most populated areas. Ron, you take Dunne, Heart and some of the best trainees, and start looking into the usual obscure places."

"What about Knockturn Alley?" asked the Senior Auror. "Are we doing it or Weasley's team?"

"After you've checked the entire Diagon Alley, you should go there. Ron will have a lot of little communities and pubs to check. But you'd better start with the other places. Diagon Alley is much too crowded now. If people see you there, panic will ensure and it might alert the fugitive. Fortunately, we have already got some patrols touring through both Alleys."

"Alright, then I'm going to inform everybody else. Weasley, you coming?" asked the Savage, making his way towards the door.

"Yes, I am," he replied and got up. "Harry, Hermione, I will see you later."

His wife, who had just finished reading the note, looked up. "Take care of yourself, Ron. Good luck!"

As the door closed after him, Harry turned towards Hermione. "I think I should be going as well."

"No, you stay here, Harry," she said determined. "Your heroics will get you into a grave. Please, just stay here and help me devise a plan."

Harry sighed, but nodded. "Alright. Williamson should be back in about an hour, and we will get more answers. Until then we could think of some strategies."

* * *

"What did you say?" asked Astoria incredulous, her voice rising. "What do you mean I'm as good as sterile?"

"Please, calm down. I told you something like this could happen," Tracey told her, her voice delicate.

"No, no," she kept repeating. "But how? Just this morning I was pregnant!"

"Astoria, it's your third miscarriage in less than a year. We should be grateful you're alright and-"

"You call this alright?"

"Astoria, you know I meant your health! You will not be able to get pregnant anymore. The foetus can't survive in your body. I have told you this, just one week ago. I told you it would happen. But you didn't listen. You never listen!" exclaimed the healer. "Not even special treatment could've worked in your case. Your husband and you aren't compatible to have another baby. And this 'trying' of yours just made everything worse."

"Please, say no more," whispered the despairing woman. "Could you clean everything and let me leave."

"It'll take about ten minutes. There isn't much to clean, you were just in your fifth week."

Astoria closed her eyes. She wanted to drown. 'How come stupid little girls of sixteen or seventeen get pregnant after the first time they have sex and some even try to get rid of it, and I, a grown-up woman who long for another child, can't have it? Where is the justice in this world?' But she voiced none of her sorrows.

When Tracey had finished, she helped her friend get up and did something she had never done before with Astoria. She hugged the woman to her chest. "I'm so sorry. I wish I could help you. Promise me you won't try again. It will just break your heart even more. Think of Scorpius and Draco."

"I promise I won't. Thank you."

"If you need me, just write to me and I'll be there for you."

"I am grateful for your help. Goodbye."

Astoria, having left her friend's office, wiped all the traces of any tears, put on a cold mask and the bonnet over her hair, so her face was mostly obscured. After living the building, she apparated in Knockturn Alley to drown her sorrows. She didn't want anybody seeing her and the pub she had chosen would give her the privacy she craved.

* * *

"Harry, are you going to have lunch?" asked Hermione once they had finished their meeting with Williamson.

"I'm going home to eat. But first I have to see Kingsley and report to him about the current situation. Do you want to join Ginny, the kids and me for lunch?"

"Thank you, Harry. I would love to, but I also have something to do first. Rose asked me to buy food for her pet. Sengen is very picky when it comes to her food. So you should start without me."

"I see," he replied. "Well, then I'll do that. I should go now, before Kingsley leaves his office. See you later and take care."

Both Harry and Hermione left his office and the Auror Headquarters. Hermione then went towards her office so she could retrieve her belongings, as Harry went towards the lift.

* * *

At around 2 pm, as Hermione Weasley left the _Magical Menagerie_, she suddenly remembered that her books about the Mexican's ancient rituals must have already been brought to _Whizz Hard Books_, hence she walked down the alley towards her bookshop. Once she reached it and tried to open its doors, something caught her attention. The glass of the doors reflected a man, looking around as if he was expecting an ambush; a man who resembled the fugitive her team was trying to imprison. 'What is he doing strolling around like this in plain view? He is a madman, indeed.'

Hermione quickly closed the door, cast upon herself Notice-Me-Not and silencing charms, so Xanthus wouldn't be able to either notice or hear her following him. He quickly passed by _Gambol and Japes_, and turned right towards Knockturn Alley. Hermione had to contact the aurors before following him, however owls weren't available at the moment and using a Patronus wasn't very wise as it would attract too much attention from the bystanders. It seemed that Harry's brashness had rubbed off on her, since she followed him without anyone aware of the dangerous situation she was in.

As she trailed about 50 metres behind him, Hermione noticed that the deranged man had two wands, one in his wand-holster and another in his hand. His arms were a bit shaking, and she was suddenly reminded of those suffering of Parkinson's disease. Mind you it was a muggle disease, and had nothing to do with one Pansy Hogan nee Parkinson. However, the link between the two was still amusing.

Vikram Xanthus turned to the left and went down another street. Madam Weasley recognised the street as the one where the infamous _Haunted Tavern _was located. The pub wasn't inappropriate per se; however its customers were quite often very drunk, loud and looking for trouble. Some of them were even ex-convicts. 'A perfect meeting point,' thought Hermione. 'He might even have accomplices, just like Harry suggested.'

After he went in, she quickly approached a window, a rather clean one, from the local's sidewall, and peered inside. She didn't want to rush in and scare him. Scared mad people tended to act irrationally and put everybody around them, including themselves, in danger. She watched as he approached the bar, probably ordered a drink, and looked around himself. For some reason, he was staring at somebody Hermione couldn't see from her point of view. She saw him raise one of his wands and she knew she had to go inside as quickly as possible. And exactly that she did.

* * *

Astoria Malfoy was quietly drinking some Firewhisky as the door to the pub opened, and the bell above it jingled making the entrance of the new client known to the bar owner. From where she was seated, she could see the entire interior of the establishment, but once she noticed a foreign delegate Draco might have been acquainted with seating nearby, she quickly lowered her covered head, hoping that he hadn't noticed her.

"Do you want something, sir?" asked the pub owner.

"Some red currant rum would be good," the client replied in a thick accent. He definitely wasn't from around here.

Astoria, a bit curious, slightly raised her covered head in order to see who the man was, and perhaps guess in which country he had been born. What she saw made her heart pound. The man, sporting an unhealthy look, had his wand pointed at the foreign delegate, who was looking through some of his papers. As the dangerous man was moving his wand, about to hex the person next to her, a piercing cry left Astoria' lips as she tried to warn the delegate to protect himself.

Everything happened so fast. One moment the man's body turned towards her, the next – the door opened with a blast and she was writhing on the floor, blood pouring out of her middle section.

* * *

Hermione was already sweating. She was duelling with this deranged man, who unlike her had two wands, and yet she was holding her ground. She wasn't the head of DMLE for nothing. She might have not been hurt, but two people were. One man had his throat sloshed, hence definitely dead, while the woman was still on the floor clutching her wounded stomach. Hermione wasn't able to determine where exactly the damage was, as the witch was wearing both wizarding robes and a cloak.

Hermione knew she had to end that duel as soon as possible, since the woman had already lost too much blood and she was in dire need of help. Fortunately, the other clients had ducked behind the pub's pillars and overturned tables, so there were minimal chances of them getting hurt. The one third of the Golden Trio quickly changed her tactic of attack and defence, and soon the murderer was incapacitated and bound. She sent a Patronus to Williamson, who still was in his office, telling him to wait for the convict in the detaining Ministry cells. Afterwards she made one Portal to send Xanthus to the aforementioned cells, and another one for her and the two victims, St. Mungo's being their destination.

* * *

The reception of the Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries was as usually crowded. Its rather peaceful hum of busyness was interrupted by a surprised shriek, as three people appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the hall.

Hermione quickly called for help, and the healers recognising her, quickly dashed to her side asking what was wrong.

"This man is dead," she said, pointing at him, "but she is still alive. I don't know who she is."

"Hermione, but you? Are you alright?" asked somebody close to her, and once she looked up, she saw that is was Terry Boot, a friend of hers from Dumbledore's Army.

"I'm alright, Terry. Thank you," she replied.

And then she gasped. A nurse had just unveiled the wounded woman's head, and Hermione almost feinted when she realised just who the lady was. Astoria's eyes weren't seeing anymore, and she was losing consciousness.

"Take her to the fourth floor, now!" yelled Terry. "Make it operating ward number 5. I'll be there in a moment."

The nurse and a male, who looked like a Trainee Healer, nodded and did as they were told.

Terry turned towards Hermione. "Could you contact her family? I know your kid is close to hers."

"Of course," was her immediate response.

"Thank you. And could you tell my wife about this. Tracey is friends with her. She's on the second floor."

Hermione nodded and Terry disapparated. Only the hospital's staff was allowed to apparate within the building, and the public was allowed to directly arrive on the ground floor only in cases of emergency.

She was still shocked that it was Astoria who was injured so badly. 'What was she doing in that pub, anyway?' she wondered, but then shook her head, as to clear it a bit. 'It doesn't matter. I have to contact both Draco and Harry so he could bring Scorpius.'

She quickly sent two Patronuses and went to the second floor to inform Tracey Boot of her friend's tragedy.

* * *

Draco was measuring some ingredients for a potion he was concocting as a part of a new project. As he was about to add some _Dragonfly Thorax_, his office was 'invaded' by a bright light, which then took form of an otter. He knew only one person with such a Patronus and he was rather shocked to see it in his office.

"Draco, Astoria she -," the voice was numb and incredulous, "- she was hurt by that murderer, we were going after. You have to come as soon as possible to St. Mungo's! Fourth floor, operating ward number 5. Hurry up! Harry will bring Scorpius."

The otter disappeared and with it, his face became even paler. He felt a tremor run down his back and his legs turned into lead. He couldn't believe what he just heard. 'How could that happpen?' Then he realised that his wife was injured and might even die, so he stopped the fire, put the potion under a preservation spell and left the department as quickly as possible.

* * *

"So Scorpius, I take it you are also going to try for the house team?" asked Harry Potter as they were eating some Cornish pastries. Hermione was rather late and he thought that perhaps she had changed her mind and had a quick snack somewhere in the city.

"Yes, sir," replied the 12 year old boy. "Just like the seeker position, the chaser one is available, as Randolph Hilliard has graduated this summer. I hope I will make it. Father says I'm rather good and talented."

"Yes, I agree with your father. Judging by the match you had during winter, you are a really good chaser," said Harry.

"Thank you, Mr Potter."

"Yeah, Scorp, you'll definitely make it," Al assured him. "And the two of us are going to be unstoppable!"

"Albus! Stop gesturing so wildly, you might hurt your cousin or break a glass," admonished Ginny. "What about you, Rosie?"

As Rose wanted to say that she wouldn't be trying out for her team, a shining ball appeared in the middle of the kitchen.

"Harry," cried the animal in her mother's voice, "bring Scorpius to St. Mungo's immediately! Astoria has been hurt by Xanthus! Come to the fourth floor, operating ward number 5. And don't worry, Williamson has got him in the detaining cells, I sent him there. I'll tell you everything once you come here. Hurry up!"

After a moment of numbing silence, everybody stood up at once, Harry telling the children to get dressed and Ginny putting some food in a container so she could give it to Hermione. It was obvious that her sister-in-law hadn't eaten somewhere else as they had thought.

* * *

Draco ran at full speed through the Atrium and quickly flooed to St. Mungo's. In less than two minutes he was already approaching the ward, where his wife was currently being treated. He saw a worried Hermione and Tracey, the former pacing back and forth, whereas the latter was just sitting opposite the door staring at it.

"What happened?" he asked, his panic heard in his voice.

Hermione broke out of her reverie and looked at Draco. "I saw the murderer, Xanthus, going towards Knockturn Alley, I followed him and he entered the _Haunted Tavern_. Of course, I went to a window so I could observe his actions; I thought he might try to contact an ally. He ordered a drink, and then noticed somebody and raised his wand. I quickly went inside, however he had already hexed both Astoria and another man, whose name we still don't know. I took care of him as fast as I could. The male customer was already dead, but not Astoria. I took the both of them here."

"What? Why would she be there?" he asked, not being able to believe what he was hearing. "Why would Astoria be in such a place?"

"I don't know!" Hermione cried. "Stop yelling at me," she added in a little above a whisper. "I was just as shocked to recognise it was her."

"Where is she hurt?" he asked next, his voice more composed. "Is it life-threatening?"

"Her stomach – the entire mid-section was sliced. I don't know how dangerous that is. But she has lost so much blood…"

"Tracey?" he asked the healer, but she didn't respond, still staring at the door. Draco approached her and shook her a bit. "Tracey!"

"Yes! What? What?" she looked around, coming out of her frenzy. "Oh, you've come, Draco."

"Of course, I have. Is the wound serious, Tracey?" he asked, he could hardly keep his voice from trembling.

"I don't know. I haven't seen her state," she mumbled.

Unsatisfied by her response, Draco left her side and joined Hermione in her pacing. He prayed to Heavens that his wife made it out alive.

Some minutes later, Harry, accompanied by his wife, son, niece and their friend, made their way towards the three people waiting in front of the operating ward.

"Father," said the boy, rushing towards Draco. Malfoy quickly embraced his son, telling him that everything would be alright.

"Father, do grandmother and grandfather know? And what about aunt Daphne?" asked the younger blonde.

"I haven't, but I'm going to do that right now."

The Senior Unspeakable surprised the others by casting a Patronus, which was an eagle, giving it his message, splitting it, so there were two of them, and sending them in different directions.

As Draco once again started pacing back and forth, Rose and Al approached their friend and gave him their silent support, putting a hand on his shoulders. Hermione was retelling the story to Harry and Ginny, but due to the hall being rather silent, the kids were able to hear it as well.

A bit later, both Scorpius' grandparents and aunt and uncle arrived and Draco told them in a nutshell what had happened. The situation was a bit awkward since the former three Gryffindors were in the same room with the person who had tried to kill them about twenty years before. But, Harry did respect Narcissa, so he greeted everybody who had come, and started talking to Eddie Carmichael, whom he had known rather well.

Hermione and Ginny also greeted the newcomers, but didn't engage in a conversation with either of them. The red-head gave her sister-in-law the container with food. However, Hermione being in the state she was, eating required a bit of an effort. As Ginny wanted to reprimand Hermione for picking at her food, the door to the ward opened.

Terry seemed to be very tired as he looked apologetically at those waiting for an answer. "I did all I could, but it was too late. Her wounds were deep and some of her important organs very damaged, not to mention the blood-loss. I'm sorry, but she has died."

* * *

**Explanation of some things that might be confusing:**

**1**_**.**_Ginny's birthday is on 11 August, so the action in this chapter happens mostly during Harry's birthday (31 July) and on 13 August. However, the bit about Scorpius arriving at Al's house took place on 12 August. Though 12 August 2018 is a Sunday, Harry as a Head Auror has got lots of responsibilities (with strict deadlines), hence sometimes works during the weekend, as well.

**2. **'Bonnet' is the British version for 'hood'.

**3. **Draco has been able to cast a Patronus since his Unspeakable training days. In my opinion, after the war, every single Unspeakable had to be able to cast one. Draco's is an eagle, because it's a proud and smart creature, just like our beloved Malfoy.

**A quick poll for entertainment purposes:**

_Which one of the following is your favourite Harry Potter book? _(The options are my own favourites.)

A) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban  
B) Harry Potter and Order of the Phoenix  
C) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows  
D) Other. Let me know!

**My own answer to the previous poll: **My favourite Wizarding Family is the Potters. I wish there had been more scenes with James and Lily in the book, not to mention Charlus and Dorea Potter, Harry's grandparents. They must've been great people and wizards.

Please review!


	17. Of revealed secrets and trips

**Author's Notes:  
**  
And here it is – the 16th chapter. As opposed to the previous chapter, this one starts on a sombre note, but ends with a funny trip, or at least I hope it's funny.

Thank you for reading my story, adding it to your favourites, putting it on alert, and reviewing! Your reviews made me find my muse, and I have written two more chapters.

Beloved readers, your support means a lot. Thank you so much!

In reply to an **anonymous/guest** reviewer – Thanks for your feedback! I know that my writing is a bit choppy here and there, but I'm trying really hard to make it better. But I'm glad that you find it engaging.

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no profit from this work of art. However, I do own the plot and some OCs. The image belongs to **charmontez**.

* * *

**Chapter 16. Of revealed secrets and trips**

Perhaps Scorpius had thought less of his grandfather, after reading about what had happened in the Department of Mysteries more than two decades before, however it was Lucius who approached his grandson, while Narcissa rushed to Draco's side. Hearing that his beautiful wife was no longer among the living numbed his entire being, his thoughts scattered all over the place, his eyes frozen staring at the healer's face.

Scorpius couldn't believe what he had heard. His cheeks got wet without him even realising that he was crying. He quickly turned towards his grandfather's body and wept. The man's expensive clothes got soaked with tears very fast, but he couldn't have cared less. He had made a lot of mistakes concerning his son and wife before; he wouldn't make the same mistake with his grandson. Yes, they were Malfoys and crying wasn't acceptable in Lucius' opinion, however the boy just lost his mother, so showing his affection and support could do no wrong. The boy needed it. The boy needed him and all of his family.

Eventually, Draco, who hadn't paid any attention to anybody around him, came to his senses, and with it his anger awakened. "Why would Astoria be in that damned pub? That bastard must have made her go there! I want this investigated! I want him dead!"

Harry, as the Head Auror, should've been the one to answer, however he was too stunned to even utter a word. Hermione frustrated with her best friend's silence sighed. "I don't know why she was there, but when he entered Knockturn Alley he was completely alone. She must've been inside when Xanthus arrived. The only one who went in after him was me." As Hermione said that, something occurred to her. "Terry, could you find out how much alcohol she had had in her system, if any?"

"Actually, I've already done that. I have to know the patient's blood content before administering some special potions. The level of alcohol in her blood was disturbingly high. Because of it I wasn't able to give her a very potent concoction that could've saved her life," he finished, his voice frustrated and saddened at the same time.

"My sister doesn't drink!" interjected Daphne, outraged by the healer's declaration. "That's preposterous!"

"Daphne is right. My daughter-in-law wasn't fond of alcohol. At all," added Narcissa, her voice much more poised than that of Daphne.

"Well, she might have not drunk in your presence, but the spell clearly showed that she had had at least three shots of Firewhiskey," Terry's frustration was rapidly turning into irritation. How dare they question his skills?

Hermione saw that the two women wanted to argue the matter with the healer, however she was rather tired and didn't want to lose more time on petty things like somebody hiding their drinking habits. "It doesn't matter whether she was fond of drinking or not, what does is that she was there, and had been there for quite some time if she had at least three glasses of alcohol. People tend to drink and hide the fact from their family. You just have to deal with that. Perhaps she was depressed or had some burdens she couldn't share with you."

"What burdens could she have that she wouldn't share them with me, her sister?" asked Daphne angrily. For a former Slytherin ice-queen she surely was spitting fire now.

"Could it be the loss of the baby?" thought Tracey aloud. She was still dazed by the recent events.

Draco, who had been rather silent for a while and was the closest to her, had heard her whisper. "What loss? What baby? What are you talking about?"

Tracey woke up from her dwellings and turned towards her friend's husband. "What do you mean what baby? The one you two conceived and she had had for about five weeks before losing it today. She mustn't have had the time to tell you, but she lost it just like the other two beforehand. And when I told her that-, oh dear! Was it because of it?"

"Because of what, Mrs Boot?" asked Hermione. Draco was too shocked to even move his lips, never mind move his jaw in order to speak.

"She was as good as sterile. This morning after she lost the baby, I had some tests done for her, and she couldn't have any more children."

Hearing that, Narcissa, Daphne and, surprisingly enough, Ginny gasped as Hermione felt her eyes widen. Such news could definitely make a female want something strong to drink.

Draco, however, had other things on his mind. In a very calm voice, he spoke. "You said two other pregnancies beforehand. What was that about?"

Realisation dawned on Tracey. Her former housemate had no idea about Astoria's pregnancies, nor was he aware of the miscarriages that happened afterwards. "Merlin, she didn't tell you! And she lied to me. Oh, no!"

Terry, seeing his wife's distress, quickly approached her and took her hand in his. "Tracey, love, what has she lied to you about?"

"She told me that her family was aware of her pregnancies. And when I asked her about why Draco wasn't coming with her, she just said that he was busy, and – and I believed her! How stupid of me!"

Draco's blank face paled even more. They had conceived three children and his wife lost them, and never told him. "Tracey, I want to hear everything, right now."

His low, but menacing voice left no room for refusal. A healer was supposed to keep quiet about their patient's state, but Astoria's visits were off-record and not to mention that she had deceived Tracey. Thus, Mrs Boot told every single thing concerning Astoria's ordeal.

As Scorpius was listening to what the woman was saying, he was getting angrier and angrier. His mother, the one who told him never to lie and always ask for support from his family, had broken the rules she had set herself. As the rage inside his heart was growing larger and larger, his pain got more acute and he was almost gasping for breath. Indirectly because of her lies, she had died. His mother, his sweet and graceful mother, had been taken away from him.

"I want to go home," he broke the silence that enveloped the group once Tracey finished retelling everything.

Beside him, Lucius nodded, feeling the same way. "And we shall go home, Scorpius. But before that, you should say goodbye to your friends and thank Mr and Mrs Potter for their hospitality."

The blonde boy approached Al and Rosie, unbearable pain was reflected in his eyes. "I'm sorry, but we'll have to cut short our slumber party. I'll write to you both, later."

The cousins understood that it would take a while before he would write to them, but still they nodded. Rose, the more empathetic one, took his hand and squeezed it once before letting it go. "We will be waiting. Take care. And see you in a couple of weeks on the train," she said. The green-eyed boy just looked at his best friend and his eyes spoke for him, 'if you need me, you know where to find me. I will always be there for you.'

After Scorpius thanked Al's parents and apologised for the inconvenience he had caused, he went back to his grandfather and told him that he was ready. They bid farewell to everybody and left.

Narcissa was a bit astounded by their departure; however she knew that it was better if the boy stayed as far away from the dreadful situation as possible. He was too young to be involved in something as gruesome as this.

Harry had finally remembered that he was still the one responsible for the case. "As Astoria was one of the murder's victims, her death will be a part of this case and, subsequently, the trial that awaits the criminal. Unfortunately, the victim's prior circumstances, specifically whereabouts, will also appear in the folder. Her reasons for being there aren't related to the case, and thus they shall be kept a secret."

"Thank you, Mr Potter," replied Mrs Malfoy.

He nodded. Harry informed Terry that he would have to give a report concerning the victim and the cause of death. He and his wife along with Hermione and their kids bid farewell to everybody, leaving the family to grieve without any unwanted witnesses.

As he was about to turn, Draco called him. "Potter. I want him severely punished. I shall supervise that myself. My lawyer and I will pay you a visit on Monday."

"Of course. I will be waiting for you."

* * *

Mid-August brought beautiful and warm days, however the inside of Malfoy Manor was shadowed by the family's tragedy. Draco was kept busy between working on Xanthus' case with his lawyer and ex-nemesis, and arranging his wife's funeral with his mother's help. He would spend his evenings in his son's presence, trying to help Scorpius go through his loss with as little damage as possible. It turned to be a quite hard feat to accomplish. The boy would mostly keep quiet and read his school books or write his essays. Talking to him about Astoria was almost impossible.

After another failed 'session' he found his parents in the drawing room, in the left wing of the mansion.

"Mother, father," he greeted them with respect. "Scorpius' behaviour is worrying me. He won't talk at all about what happened. What should I do?"

"Oh, Draco, I've tried talking to him, as well, but he always changes the subject. Perhaps we should seek the help of a professional," said Narcissa, her blue eyes troubled.

"Nonsense," Lucius declared, dismissing his wife's advice with a wave of his hand. "We don't need strangers involved in our family matters. I will talk to him."

Draco was rather surprised at his father's suggestion, but didn't dwell on it. "If that works, then you shall continue talking to him until he gets better. But if refuses to discuss this with you too, then we shall do as mother said."

Lucius was confident that his new-found propinquity with his grandson would be enough for the 12 year old to open up, hence he didn't agree nor disagree with his son's decision.

* * *

Amor was playing with her little Venus, when her mother with a sleeping baby in her arms walked in after softly knocking on the door.

"Amorette, here is a letter for you and your brother," she whispered.

Her eldest daughter thanked her and took the letter from her mother. "How is little Aura doing?"

Aura Lucia Zabini was less than four weeks old, and she mostly tended to sleep, suck on her mother's breast full of milk, and make a bit of noise before going back to sleep.

"She's alright, darling. But I'd better put her in the crib, my arms are going numb."

"Well, if you let Am and me hold her more often, they wouldn't."

Mia just smiled at her beautiful child and shook her head. "She is still rather fragile. Once she is a bit older you'll have all the time in the world to hold and play with her," saying that, Mrs Zabini left the room.

'Well, let's see what Rose wrote to me. And why would she address the letter to Am, as well?' she asked nobody. She went to her brother's room, where he was taking a nap.

"Prince, wake up!" she shook her brother. "Wake up, you lazy dreamer!"

"What do you want?" groaned the lazy dreamer in question. "Just let me sleep."

"Honestly, you're worse than Aura. You only sleep and eat. Wake up!" she repeated, seeing that her brother turned on his other side. Ambrose covered his face with a pillow to shuffle his sisters' loud voice. "We've got a letter. Rose wrote that it was very important."

"Alright, alright! Just stop nagging. Salazar, why can't we use magic outside school, so I could _Muffliato_ everything around me?"

His twin rolled her eyes and sat on his bed. "And you say that I am dramatic…"

As the boy wanted to go to sleep as soon as possible, he didn't retaliate and just waited for his sister to begin reading the damned letter.

"_24 August 2018_

_Dear Amorette and Ambrose,_

_I hope that you have enjoyed your travelling through Latin America. I was sorry to hear that your new-born sister was in a weak state and therefore you had to come home earlier than planned. I'm sure that the healers will make Aura get better and stronger._

_I have some very unfortunate news. I'm sure that you've written to Scorpius about coming back earlier, just as you wrote to our friends and me. And I'm also sure that he hasn't replied yet and that he won't. About 10 days ago, while we were still at Al's, we had received a Patronus from my mum telling us to go to St. Mungo's. Once we got there, we were told that Scorpius' mother had been severely injured by an international murderer in a pub. From what a healer told us, she was sterile and that her grief was what made her go to that establishment. Unfortunately, she had died, as the healers couldn't save her life._

_I'm certain that your parents would tell you about Scorpius' family tragedy, but I wanted to tell you in advance about the details, so neither of us mentions you sisters' birth in his presence. I think it would upset him. He doesn't talk to anyone, except his grandfather, and won't reply to us. Tristan and Elizabeth told me that same thing. Thea thinks that we should give him more time and I partly agree. My family hadn't been invited to Mrs Malfoy's funeral as we aren't close to them, but Tristan and Liz were, as well as my cousin Teddy and aunt Andromeda. They told me that he had looked hurt and hadn't uttered a word._

_Both Al and I are very worried. If by any chance you get to see him before we go to school, please tell him that should he need somebody to talk to, we would be there for him._

_I'm sorry that you had to receive such news only after two days of being back home, but it was of utmost importance that you knew what was happening._

_I will see the both of you on the train._

_Kind regards, Rose Weasley,_" finished Amor. She couldn't believe what she was reading. Beside her, Am had been awakened very efficiently, his eyes were as wide as saucers and his brain was trying very hard to process all the information it had received.

"Mrs Malfoy is dead?" Amor whispered. They had been absent from the UK for only seven weeks and such tragedies had occurred.

"I can't believe it," uttered her brother.

"We have to tell our parents," said the girl. They nodded to each other, and quickly left Ambrose's room so they could find their parents.

* * *

There were four more days before the children had to leave for Hogwarts, and somehow Harry Potter was left with his kids, Hermione and Ron's, as well as George and Angelina's. It was Monday and he was the only one who was more or less free. Unfortunately for Harry, having seven children to take care of, meant that this 'more or less free' quickly turned into 'too busy and troubled'.

"Alright. Please, quiet down!" he tried to silence the rambunctious kids, but they didn't seem to notice his efforts as they talked to each other about the upcoming trip to Diagon Alley. "_Sonorus_ – Calm down!"

Now, the children had definitely heard his charm-induced loud voice.

"Finally," he sighed. "Well, as I was saying. We are going to Diagon Alley to buy everything you need for the upcoming year. Our objectives are: one – going to Gringotts to take some money; two – acquiring cauldrons from _Potage's Cauldron Shop_; three – books from _Flourish and Blotts_; four – some potion ingredients from the _Apothecary_ for Al, Rose, James and Fred; five – two broom servicing kits from _Quality Quidditch Supplies_ for Al and James; six – an owl from _Eeylops Owl Emporium_ for Roxy; seven – some scales, phials and two moon charts from _Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment_. Then, we will take a break at _Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour_," he announced in an authoritative voice.

The only ones actually listening to him were Rosie and Roxy. The latter was very excited about a trip to Diagon Alley, when she would actually buy something for her first year at Hogwarts. In the meantime, Al had his thoughts far away, being worried about Scorpius; James and Fred were making a list of all the things they would need for the upcoming year full of pranks; Hugo and Lily were being grumpy and cheerful at the same time. They thought that waiting another year was unfair towards them, but visiting Diagon Alley was always fun.

"That's dad in his 'I'm the Head Auror' voice," said Lily to nobody in particular, however her brothers and cousins had heard her, hence they laughed.

Her father, on the other side, was a bit taken aback. "And what is that supposed to mean, young lady?"

Lily smiled shyly at her father, blinked twice in a cute manner and Harry forgot that his daughter was making not so nice comments. His little princess was disturbingly good at manipulating. "Never mind. After our break, we are going to _Madam Maulkin's_ to have some robes fitted for everybody, except Hugo and Lily," this was followed by a grunt from the both of them. Being reminded that they were staying at home, whilst their relatives and siblings were away at Hogwarts wasn't pleasant at all.

"Then, we are visiting _WWW_. Now, I don't want any accidents or pranks or anything that might end with me having problems because of you lot. Fred and James, the two of you are especially warned against any mischief-making. Please, leave all of your miscreant tendencies at home. Am I understood?" he eyed them with a weary look.

The two pranksters just nodded, but it wasn't very convincing. Harry chose to let it go for the time being. "On the same note… After _WWW_, we will go to _Ollivanders_ to buy a wand for Roxy. Once again, no pranking! James and Fred, you will leave your cousin/sibling alone, and let her choose a wand. And don't even think about embarrassing her! Otherwise, you'll deal with me."

'Or with me,' added Roxanne in her head. She was very creative when it came to pay-back. And if her brother or cousin as much as embarrassed her when she was choosing her wand, there would be hell to pay. She was very much aware that Dominique would help Roxy avenge her hurt pride, as well.

"Daddy, and afterwards?" asked Lily.

"Well, I haven't thought about that. We will see. If you are on your best behaviour, I might let you visit some of your favourite shops."

"Yay," exclaimed Lily and turned towards James and Fred. "On our best behaviour, understood? If you ruin my chances at visiting _Twilfit and Tattings_, something will visit you at night, beloved brother," she said menacingly. Her sibling was certain that that 'something' were the bees from her magical green-house.

"Why couldn't Al give her a normal gift?" James whispered to his fellow prankster. The latter grinned imagining James waking up at night, screaming, 'bees, bees!'

"Alright, now. One by one, you will travel via floo to the _Leaky Cauldron_. Please, pronounce the words correctly and loudly. I don't want to spend the entire day looking for you. And Merlin forbid, you find yourselves in someone's home or in a shop in Knockturn Alley -."

"Wicked," interrupted James and Fred.

"Don't even think about it," Harry warned them, "if you do, I'll have Percy lecture you about the dangers of every kind of transport."

"No need," the boys promptly assured the Head Auror.

Everybody knew just what a knowledge-freak their uncle Percy was. Since he had started working in the Department of Magical Transportation, all he could talk about was just that – Magical Transportation, its beginning, history, rules, dangers, tricks, pros and cons. In a nutshell, everything there was to know about it.

Harry smirked in a rather Slytherin way, and the pair felt shivers running down their backs. They'd better not cross him.

"Well, that's all I wanted to say. Oh, don't forget to say hello to your aunt Hannah and uncle Neville if he's there, which is rather doubtful as the start of the year is very near. Anyway, Rose you are the first one," said the bespectacled man.

* * *

One by one, the children flooed to Hannah's pub and at last were accompanied by Harry. They all greeted the kind-hearted woman, who was quite busy with serving her customers. It was a bit before 9 am, hence a lot of workers were having breakfast or just coming for a take-away.

"Oh, hello there. Are you here to have breakfast? I've made some lovely crepes."

"Hi, Hannah! Thank you, but we have already eaten at my place. We are going to Diagon Alley to buy everything the kids need for Hogwarts," replied Harry.

"Oh, really? I see Hugo, Lily and Roxy have also come…" Hannah seemed to want to add something, but refrained from doing it.

"Is there something I could help you with?" asked Harry, seeing her hesitancy.

"Well, you see, Dayton is here with me. Cat and Alice are at their friends' houses, and Neville is at the school preparing the green houses, so he was left with me and he's very bored. And since he's about the same age as Roxy, Hugo and Lily, I thought that perhaps he could go with you."

Harry was in a dilemma. He wanted to help his friend, but on the other hand, taking care of yet another child was going to be hard. In the end, his hidden 'puff side won and he accepted. "Don't worry, it won't be a problem. They will have lots of fun."

"Thank you so much," said Hannah as she was waving her wand in all the directions, making sure that no water would be spilled as it was poured in the cup with tea infusion, or that the plates were being served to the right tables and clients. "Give me two minutes, so I can call Dayton and give you some money. Once you are done with shopping, come back here and I'll feed you all. Alright?"

"Thank you," was Harry's answer. 'Another child,' he thought, 'well, I'm doomed.'

* * *

Harry James Potter's thoughts proved to be almost prophetic, as the trip to Diagon Alley ended in being a disaster. It started with Hugo accidently knocking over two rows of cauldrons in their first shop, followed by Rose and some girl almost fighting for a very rare book in _Flourish and Blotts_, and Fred and James making some kid swallow _Bat Spleens_, which made him turn green and then drop dead to the _Apothecary_'sfloor (fortunately he just fainted).

These unfortunate series of events continued with whining from a boy attending Hogwarts that year, who wanted the same servicing broom kits as Al and James had. That type of kit was rather expensive and the boy's mother couldn't afford it. In the end, Harry bought the kit for the eleven year old and his parent had followed the 'Boy Who Lived' for at least 30 minutes trying to thank him. He really didn't need a ninth child and a gushing mother/stalker in addition to his own lot.

His bad day seemed to be a definitive fixture, as Dayton, by what he thought was playing, actually irked an owl and she bit him on his finger, when he put it into the bird's cage. When the boy tried to pry his finger from the owl, he accidently opened the cage, the hooting creature got out and mayhem was what followed. The visit to _Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment _ended rather quickly, as the owner chased them away after Fred and James kind of ripped three very expensive moon charts.

Somehow nothing extremely bad happened at _Fortescue's_ except his eldest son eating too much and complaining the entire trip that his stomach hurt and his brain was frozen. However, Harry quickly ran out of luck when he got to _Madam Maulkin's_. There, he encountered a fellow ex-classmate, Zacharias Smith, with his own children, Zared and Vidette. The girl was very shy and polite, but her brother was just like his father, if not even meaner. No wonder he was in Slyhterin. And it seemed that Al, Rosie and Zared didn't really like each other. What started as a very strained conversation, soon turned into a blown-out-of-proportions argument and they were saved from physically attacking each other only because Vidette had her robes ready and the Smiths could leave. Madam Maulkin was definitely not impressed by the children's behaviour.

"You have startled all my customers!" she complained.

But, the most epic, and in Harry's opinion – troublesome, visit of all was the one to _WWW_. Had Harry known that his kids were this crazy, he would've left them at home at best, or taken them to a mind-healer at worst. As soon as they entered the shop, his eldest son and his nephew disappeared somewhere, and the half-mad, half-giddy glint in their eyes wasn't very reassuring for Harry's peace of mind.

'I don't want to know,' he kept chanting in his head.

Al and Rosie also went somewhere and if judging by his son's smirk, the 'I don't want to know' line was quite appropriate for the situation. To his surprise, the most problematic happened to be Roxy, Lily, Hugo and Dayton. Those four in their excitement were bumping into each other to look at every single product. And once again, _accidently_, the little Weasley knocked off some boxes full of trinkets, which in turn started exploding left and right, and because of the smoke all the other customers (and there were lots of them) kept either colliding into each other or into other shelves full of rather fragile products.

In the five minutes, since Harry and his bunch entered the shop, the three children managed to create utter chaos. 'Who knew Hugo was such a klutz,' he thought, 'I'd better tell Hermione about this, before he _accidently_ blew up the house or the potions' class.'

Once everything calmed down, an angered Angelina came out of a back-room. "Who did this?"

Everybody, except Harry, pointed at Hugo. The poor boy felt like drowning. "I'm sorry, aunt Angelina. I didn't want do cause this. It was by accident," he added meekly.

* * *

Harry for once felt very grateful for having some privileges due to being _the _Harry Potter – the Saviour of the Wizarding World. Only because of his name and reputation, was he salvaged from being sued for causing bedlam in the shops they'd visited. And it was rather fortunate that it was George and Angelina who owned _WWW_, otherwise Harry would've been in loads of trouble.

Once they left the half-ruined shop, Harry turned towards the boisterous lot. "Alright, I've had enough. If anyone, once again, causes any kind of inconvenience to owners or customers of any establishment, be it accidental or on purpose, I'm making you listen to Percy and Hermione about the dangerous consequences of your actions. And forget about visiting anything else after _Ollivanders_."

"But, daddy! I was a good girl, and I want to see the new clothes in _Twilfit and Tattings_," whined Lily.

"I'm sorry, darling, but my nerves won't survive yet another shop. Ask your mother to take you."

The way Harry said that let the little girl know that his decision was final and nothing could change that. She sighed. 'Well, at least I can look forward to some pay-back. Poor Hugo really couldn't help it and Dayton is much too soft-hearted for actually wanting to anger that owl. However my brother… Oh, James, beware! The bees are coming!'

"Ok, daddy, I understand," she sweetly smiled and Harry was once again reminded of his mantra, 'I don't want to know.'

* * *

Hannah was just taking the apple pie out of the oven, when Harry, accompanied by the eight little devils, came back. She quickly led them to a big enough table for all of them. "So how was it? Did you have fun kids?"

James was the first one to respond. "Yes, hadn't had as much fun in a very long time. Who knew that Hugo had it in him. Cousin, once you come to Hogwarts, you'll join our ranks."

Hannah turned towards her ex-classmate. "Do I want to ask about it?"

"You don't. I feel like I've aged about ten years in half a day."

"I'm really sorry," she said.

"Don't worry about it. Dayton didn't cause too much trouble. But, I'm afraid neither my children nor nephews will ever be allowed inside a shop," he sounded very, very tired.

"It was that bad, huh?"

"It was that bad."

"Well, then I'll bring you some food," she said and left for the kitchen.

"Uncle Harry, were you serious when you said that we'd never be allowed inside a shop? _Flourish and Blotts_, as well?" asked a terrified Rose.

"Who cares about that book shop? _Quality Quidditch Supplies_ is much more important," said James. "Dad, we can't be banned from that shop! It's like the Heaven for me, except _WWW_."

Harry, however, tried to ignore any other voice and was watching Hannah approaching them with their mouth-watering meal trailing after her in mid-air. "Let's eat," he finally declared and the kids, rather famished themselves, left the discussion to be opened a bit latter.

'Silence, at last… I thought it would never come.'

* * *

**Explanation of some things that might be confusing:**

**1**_**.**_About the correlation of one's blood content and potion usage. When one consumes alcoholic beverages, certain changes happen inside his/her body; the blood content is also affected. Just like with muggle medicine, some magical concoctions if taken along with alcohol, might lose their potency at best, or cause additional damage for the one who drinks it at worst. In Astoria's case, it would've been the latter.  
Just google it, if you want to find out more about how alcohol affects our body.

**2. **Just a reminder, Venus is Amorette's Kneazle.

**3. **Aura Lucia Zabini was born on 27 July 2018. There had been some problems during her birth, as her body's organs didn't function as well as they should have.

**4. **Why Aura's birth might've upset Scorpius? Well, his mother indirectly died because she had wanted a baby so much. Scorpius wouldn't have been distressed per se, however it would've felt like rubbing salt into his wounds. Rose thought that it was better to be safe [considerate, in this case], than sorry.

**5. **Harry was able to have a Monday off work due to Xanthus already having been captured. He was in-between two cases, so he could relax for the time being, if one could really call babysitting 7 [+1] kids relaxing.

**6. **The two moon charts I have mentioned are for James and Fred, as starting with their third year, they would attend Divination. "An easy OWL," they said. Poor boys…

**7. **Lily is a bit of a fashion lover. She likes wearing cute things, or just having them like the green-house/meadow Al gave her for Christmas.

**8. **As I have previously written in the 9th chapter, Neville and Hannah Longbottom have three kids: Alice Roberta (Hufflepuff, soon to be a sixth year student), Catherine 'Cat' Augusta (Gryffindor, soon a fourth year student), Dayton Frank (almost 11 years old, the poor fellow was born on 2 September 2007, so he has to wait another year before going to Hogwarts).

**A quick poll for entertainment and for future reference purposes:**

_Which two of the following would you choose as additional subjects for the third year? _

(I will take your choices under consideration. I'm already writing about their 2018 Christmas so you might want to hurry up.)

A) Study of Ancient Runes  
B) Arithmancy  
C) Divination  
D) Care for Magical Creatures  
E) Muggle Studies. Let me know!

**My own answer to the previous poll: **My favourite book is the fifth one. Though, Sirius' death left me completely speechless and a crying mess. I don't cry that easily, however books and films make me sob disturbingly often (perhaps I should watch/read less tragic and romance stuff).

Please review!


	18. Of breaking the silence

**Author's Notes:  
**  
Here it is, the 17th chapter. ^_^

Thank you for reading my story, putting it on alert, and reviewing!

Your support and reviews mean very much to me. Thank you!

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no profit from this work of art. However, I do own the plot and some OCs. The image belongs to **charmontez**.

* * *

**Chapter 17. Of breaking the silence**

Ernest Hemingway once said that "_It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end._"

Albus Severus Potter was very much excited about going back to Hogwarts, however before he could enjoy his new year at the magical school, he had to take care of something else – make Scorpius talk. The day before, he had received a letter from his blond-haired friend. It contained the boy's apology for not having contacted him earlier, and his hope that the upcoming year would be just as lovely as the first one. Al knew that Scorp hadn't come to terms with his mothers' death yet, but he had the feeling that between him and all their other friends, things would get better.

The first housemate he met on the platform was Thea, who had returned some two days before from a very long trip to Asia. Her skin was sun-kissed, she had about eight little freckles on her nose and her blue eyes glowed even brighter than they ever had before.

"Al, Rosie! It is so nice to see you," she said, before giving them a quick hug. "My trip has been wonderful; I've seen so many marvellous things and beings."

"I'm glad, Thea. I'm happy to see you, as well," said the red-head.

"Thank you. But, I was very sad to find out what happened to Scorpius. Al, you seem very worried; all those Nargles must be messing with your thoughts."

Al chuckled. That was the Thea Doyle they all loved and rarely understood. "Yeah, these Nargles are really mischievous, aren't they?"

The blue-eyed girl just smiled and then she turned her head a bit, as something caught her eye. The cousins following her example, did the same and they saw the Malfoy and Carmichael families. Lucius seemed as aristocratic as always, as he quickly embraced his grandson, who looked a bit paler than usual. Mrs Malfoy appeared to be a bit tired; trying to help her son raise his own child as well as overcome his wife's death was a hard and strenuous deed to accomplish. Draco himself looked weary. In order to forget about his pain, he took more hours of work, trying to keep himself as busy as possible. Not having time to dwell on his grief was much better, in his opinion. He also sported bags under his eyes, for nights didn't offer any quantum of solace. He was haunted by nightmares in his sleep and depressing thoughts in his waking.

Daphne's eyes, though full of sorrow, had a touch of kindness to them as she kissed her nephew on the forehead, just like her late sister used to. The first time Rosie saw Astoria give a peck to her son, he had pushed her away. However now, his eyes almost shone of sadness and regret. Never again would his mother kiss him goodbye, as he left for Hogwarts. Never again would he hold her gloves. Never again would he embrace her gentle body and hear the heartbeat, he had been surrounded by when he was in her womb – the most beautiful sound he had ever heard and would ever hear.

Rose felt her heart constrict with sorrow. She couldn't imagine just how hurt her friend must have been. She wanted to help him, be there for him and she was sure that Al and all their friends thought of the same thing. She wondered what their journey would reveal.

* * *

Another pair of eyes was watching the Malfoy and Carmichael families. The brown orbs also noticed just how hard the tragedy shook the families. She was so sorry she hadn't been able to do more for the beautiful woman on that fateful day. Hermione saw Eddie tell something to his daughter and embrace her. Afterwards, Dione hugged her brother, who seemed to be of the same age as Hermione's own son, and left to find her friends.

"Love, what are you looking at?" asked her husband cheerfully.

Since the aforementioned 'fateful day', Ron's behaviour had changed a lot. Once he found out just how close to dying his wife had been, he had started spending more time with his family and seemed to value all the little things. His demeanour resembled quite a lot the one he had after Fred's death. But Hermione didn't complain. She was so happy that she had her previous loving husband back once more. She almost wept when he made love to her two days after the tragic accident, and couldn't contain her smile when he brought her flowers and kissed her every time he saw her, be it at work or at home. Whatever phase, he had been through, had passed and their marriage had survived.

"At nothing dear," she smiled at him. "It's just that I'm so sorry for Draco and his family…"

Ron looked sceptical and mumbled something along the lines of, 'well, can't say they didn't deserve it.'

"Ronald! How can you say such a thing?" she fiercely whispered to him.

"What? That's karma, baby. They had been disgusting Death Eaters before and now they're paying. But, I'm not as insensitive as to say that I'm happy that she had died. Even if it is ferret, losing his wife was a hard blow."

"Oh, Ron…" but Hermione didn't continue her thought. She knew that nothing could ever make her husband get on better with Draco.

As she was looking for her daughter she heard Ron gasp. "What is he doing?" he asked.

"Who?"

"Harry, that's who. He's going to Malfoy! Is he touched in the head or something?"

Hermione once again looked at the grieving family, and true enough, her best friend had approached their ex-nemesis. They seemed to talk about something rather important, if she were to judge by their grim expressions.

"I think they're talking about the trial," she said. "It's going to be held on the upcoming Monday. And as today is Saturday, they wouldn't be able to talk before it starts at 9 am as they have been doing for these past two weeks."

"Yes, you're right. I forgot about that damned trial. You said you were going to be there even earlier than 9 am. And I also have to come, don't I?"

"Yes, you do. And you'd better not be late, or I'll have to punish you," Hermione reminded him.

"I love it when you talk dirty," Ron grinned. "Are those muggle cufflinks a part of the punishment, as well?"

"Ronald, there are kids here and they might overhear!" she chided him.

Her husband just laughed and took her hand as to guide her towards the other Weasleys, who had just arrived through the barrier onto the platform.

* * *

At first, the compartment was silent. Nobody knew what to say to break the awkward atmosphere. Some feared that they would utter something insensitive and accidently make Scorpius feel even worse, others either didn't want to open their mouths first, or open them and say the wrong thing.

In the end, Al was the one to break the silence. "What do you think this year is going to be like?"

Everyone sighed with relief and answered at once. The compartment burst with discussion.

"Definitely some damn good pranks," said Ambrose.

"And even more studying," added his sister.

"Yes, the curriculum is going to be much more complex and I know that there would be more lessons," agreed Rosie.

"Well, this year I'm trying out for our Quidditch team," announced Tristan.

"You, too? Awesome!" exclaimed Al. "Scorp and I are also going to try out."

"Really? That's jolly good news!" Elizabeth smiled. "I mean, you're so talented, and as I said last year, you're going to bring victory to our house. The both of you will."

"Thank you, Liz," said Scorpius. It was the first time he had spoken to them, so the bunch fell quiet for a bit. Even when they had greeted each other, he just nodded and smiled… kind of, if one was to call his pained grimace a smile.

Al knew that if given too much attention, his best friend would withdraw from their conversation once again, so he quickly tried to divert everybody from staring at the blonde. "Do you know whether anyone else from our year is trying out as well?"

"I think Octavia Wood wanted to," Rosie informed them.

"What position?" asked Tristan.

"Either seeker or chaser."

"There are three chasers on the Gryffindor team, so it must be the seeker position," said Am.

"Mate, you seem to have some really good competition. I mean that girl, Carmington, is trying for 'puffs team, and from what I've seen she's got the skills and Wood is Wood, the name speaks for itself," concluded the young Mr Nott.

"Why aren't you trying out, Am?" asked Sierra, who until now had been playing with Venus.

"My brother and I have decided to try out the next year," responded Amor instead of her brother.

"Well, you two would be damn good," Al said. "I can't wait!"

* * *

About three hours since the journey had started, Scorp and Al found themselves outside their compartment, looking out the window and enjoying the silence.

"It's great, is it not?" asked Albus.

"What is great?"

"The weather, the fact that we are going back to Hogwarts and that it's so quiet, for once."

Scorpius said nothing and kept looking out the window.

The green-eyed boy wanted to talk about his friend's loss, but had no idea how to start that conversation. In the end, he left all the subtleties and hints aside, choosing to be straight forward. "I don't know what it's like to lose a parent, or a relative for that matter; however I want you to know that I'm here no matter what. I know that you don't want others to see that you're still hurting, as it could be seen as a weakness, but I don't see it like that and I want to make sure that you're aware of it. I consider you my best friend and I hope that you feel the same way about me. I hope that when you feel the need to talk about it, you will remember that you have got at least one person who'd listen."

As Al finished his speech, silence descended once more, and for about half an hour only the muffled noises coming from closed compartments and the whistling wind could be heard.

"At first I thought that the world had ended," said Scorpius, his voice a mere whisper. "I wanted to cry and hide from the entire world. And then I would get angry at my mother for having been irresponsible, at my father for not stopping her, at that healer for not saving her, at everybody and everything for taking her away from me. In the end I would be angry with myself for blaming others, except that madman.

"I couldn't stand grandmother smothering me with her attention, father's prying, my aunt's teary eyes every time she was near me, the pitiful looks Dione would throw me and Damien's confused ones. I hated it all. Only my grandfather understood me. He would watch as I completed my homework, as I ate or played with the Quaffle and never say anything. I was really grateful to him for that, for giving me the space I needed. I wasn't close to him before, but now I feel much better in his presence than anybody else's. Well, perhaps you are the only exception. And now I sound cheesy."

"It's alright mate, nobody except me is going to hear about it. Your secret is safe with me," the black-haired boy winked. And then his playful tone sank, once again becoming serious. "Have you talked to your grandfather at all?"

"Yes, I have. At first it was just some mundane stuff, then it turned more serious, more closer to…" his voice broke, and he slowly breathed in.

"I understand. You don't have to talk about it, if you can't. My aunt Hermione says that time heals everything, she would know as she also lost her parents."

"Really? I didn't know about that."

"Well, not many are aware of this, but she changed her parents' memory and sent them to Australia during the war. Once it had ended, she, uncle Ron and my dad went there to find them, but for some reason they couldn't. The muggle police had no records of them, magic wasn't of much help, so after about two months they had to give up; her parents weren't in Australia and they were needed back here, in the UK.

"I hadn't been born yet at that time, obviously, but whenever my father reminisces about that period, he's always sad. He told me that she had cried so many times because of that. She doesn't even know whether they're alive or dead," finished Albus.

"I think that's even worse," said the blond boy. "I mean we could at least give my mother a proper funeral, your aunt couldn't do even that."

"Yes, and the doubt always gnawing at her mustn't feel very pleasant."

"And what about Rose? How does she feel about it?"

"Well, just like me, she has never met her other set of grandparents, and I can't say that I feel hurt or anything by this loss, just confused and I regret that they aren't alive," responded Albus. "But, of course I would have loved it if I could meet them. I definitely won't see them in this world, Rosie on the other hand…"

"You think that they are still alive?" asked Scorpius.

"Who knows, mate. Who knows…"

* * *

"What have you thought of Malfoy?" Hermione asked Harry, as they were looking through the documents they'd need for the trial, in her office.

"He looked terrible," replied the Chosen One, scribbling some notes in the corner of a paper.

"Yes, I thought the same way. At least he didn't get addicted to any vicious habits like drinking or smoking or something even worse."

"On that one I agree," he said absent-mindedly. And then finally put everything aside and looked at Hermione thoughtfully. "You know, actually he's not that bad. Draco's changed a lot. Since I had to constantly work with him and his lawyer, I got to know better this new Malfoy."

"I think the war and marriage had changed him, just like the rest of us."

"He must've loved her a lot. Teddy told me that when he got lost somewhere in the mansion, he heard someone crying. He thinks that it was Draco."

"It could've been Scorpius as well," suggested Hermione, and Harry shrugged. "Oh, that poor little boy. Have you seen his eyes on the platform? I thought that he'd crumple down at any given moment."

"Yes, I have seen him. Al told me that he hadn't written anything until yesterday, and even that letter was rather vague," he said worried. "I hope Al, as his best friend, helps him overcome whatever inner demons that boy has got."

"Well, if he inherited the same saviour complex you've got, then he'll definitely help him," she kindly smiled at her own best friend. "I'm still very grateful for all the support you and the Weasleys and Andromeda gave me back then."

Harry leant in and hugged his friend of a lifetime. "You don't have to thank me. That's what friends and family are for; to be there for you and support you, be it through bad or good."

"It sounds like my marriage vows," teased Hermione. "Rather cliché, Mr Potter."

"I'm sorry, Madam McGonagall, I couldn't help it," he teased back.

She pouted. "Hey! That wasn't nice."

"It wasn't supposed to be. Besides, that's what you get for impersonating her."

"The cheek! I might tell her, you know," she grinned.

"There's no need," smiled Harry. "Let's get back to serious things. You know how the CEC have encountered that nasty spell or charm, or whatever it is, that fugitive Grosberg used and they told us to contact an unspeakable? Well, I have thought about Malfoy. He must be really good at what he does, if he's a senior."

"You know, now that you mention it, it is rather a good choice. And as you've already worked with him and are on amicable terms, you might as well work with him on this case. Plus, from what I heard during our Head meetings, he is knowledgeable on both the Dark Arts and their Counteraction, not only Potions."

"Well, the former shouldn't surprise us, and as for the other two, well, his godfather was Snape, that explains it rather well."

"I guess it does," agreed Hermione. "Then it's decided. You shall work with him on the Grosberg case, he might even enjoy it, as it wouldn't involve being cooped in that awful department."

"You still don't go there, do you?" asked Harry concerned.

"Not if I can help it," she looked at the floor, her expression darkening. "I mean we were almost killed there, and Sirius…"

Harry just nodded, and they continued going through the legal documents for the upcoming trial.

* * *

**Explanation of some things that might be confusing:**

**1**_**. **_The events in this chapter all happen on 1 September 2018, a Saturday.

**2. **CEC stands for Committee on Experimental Charms. The function of the Committee is to oversee the use and development of experimental charms. Gosberg is a murderer, who invented a new spell, and another of CEC's responsibilities is finding counteracting incantations.

**3. **Senior Unspeakables aren't only to supervise the functioning and observance of all the rooms of DM, but also intrinsically research and study about love, space, thought, time, death, and others. Sometimes aurors and unspeakables work together on complex cases, where unknown charms, potions and rituals are involved. (At least that's what they do in my FF.)

**A quick poll for entertainment purposes:**

_Which one of the following seems more interesting to you? _

A) Beauxbatons Academy of Magic (in France).  
B) Brazailian Wizarding School (in Brazil).  
C) Durmstrang Institute (in Norway or Sweden).  
D) Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (in the UK).  
E) Salem Witches' Institute (in USA).  
F) Mahoutokoro (in Japan).  
G) Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts (in the UK). Let me know!

**My own answer to the previous poll: **I would choose Study of Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. I love hieroglyphs (I've been even studying Japanese and Elvish, a language created by Tolkien), and I like Mathematics (even the course I'm doing, Business Management, involves Statistics and Economics).

Please review!


	19. Of incessant banters and trials

**Author's Notes:  
**  
And here it is – the 18th chapter. This is a more of an in-between chapter, but it's still got some fun stuff in it. Hopefully, you will like it.

Thank you for reading my story, adding it to your favourites, and reviewing!

Your support and reviews mean a lot and give me the inspiration to write. Thank you very much!

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no profit from this work of art. However, I do own the plot and some OCs. The image belongs to **charmontez**.

* * *

**Chapter 18. Of incessant banters and trials**

Courtroom number four was rather large, hence there were a lot of Law and Ministry representatives, as well as journalists and the like. The death of Draco Malfoy's wife and of a foreign delegate, Carl Marx Brunt, came as a big shock to the general public, thus the trial had been highly anticipated by everybody. They had been inside the room for at least four hours, and they were very tired and couldn't wait to get out of there. The folder containing the charges against Vikram Xanthus had been very large; hence the trial had taken such a long time.

"- as a consequence of all the aforementioned charges, Vikram Vidur Xanthus, you are to be imprisoned for 47 years in Azkaban, the lowest level, as decided by the British Ministry of Magic, and an additional 65 period of imprisonment in Azkaban, the lowest level, as decided by the Hindi Ministry of Magic, without the possibility of parole. Guards take the sentenced to his cell. Tomorrow he will be transported to Azkaban. This trial ends here," finished the Minister for Magic.

Draco knew that his revenge had been finally granted. The lowest level of Azkaban was known for being the most dark and despair-inducing level of all. The cells there quickly became a living nightmare for their habitants. Though, the murderer would most likely die imprisoned, the blonde felt no joy. Nothing could bring his wife back.

He felt somebody squeeze his shoulder. He turned his head to the right. "Potter, was there something you wanted?"

"Not really, just to tell you that I'm truly sorry for what happened," he replied. "I know that seeing the one, who killed your loved ones, imprisoned for life isn't very gratifying, nor is it enough. I'm sorry."

A surprised and silent Draco could only stare at the now retreating Head Auror.

"He feels that he's responsible for Astoria and Carl's death," said a voice near him.

Malfoy turned around and saw Hermione Weasley. "I see," was his vague reply. Since when did the ex-Gryffindors feel so chummy towards him?

"But he isn't to blame. _I_ was there, _I_ should've done more. I am very sorry," she lowered her head, apologising.

"The only one to blame is right now taken to his cell," Draco replied. "You've done all you could, perhaps even more than others would have, had they been in your place."

Hermione lifted her head, her eyes were full of regret and sorrow. "And yet I feel like I should apologise."

"You don't have to apologise, Granger. You haven't done anything wrong," his voice was surprisingly kind and calm.

"It's Weasley, you know?" she smiled a bit.

"You'll always be Granger to me," he smirked and after bidding farewell, left.

Still smiling, she left the courtroom herself, and that was when her husband approached her. He seemed upset with her interacting with the blonde Slytherin.

"What was that about?"

"Oh, Ron…"

* * *

Albus Severus Potter was staring at the blackboard and yet, didn't pay attention to it, for his thoughts were miles away. He knew that the trial must have been over by the time he finished his double Potions. His viridian eyes looked to their left and watched Scorpius absent-mindedly copy down the instructions. As Al was about to say something to the blonde, something collided rather hard with ribs. He looked to his right, and was met with Lizzy's glare.

"Stop looking around with that broody expression of yours," hissed the girl. Al wanted to retort, however Liz just shook her head, making her copper curls bounce, and he chose to let it go. Once more he turned his attention towards the blackboard, and this time he did focus on copying down the directives on how to brew a Swelling solution.

* * *

A bit later most of the students found themselves in the Great Hall, relishing the delicious meal the House Elves had prepared.

"Hmm, this is brilliant," said Ambrose, as he took another bite of rice pudding.

Near him, Lizzy rolled her eyes. "Where is Amor, so she could make fun of you and your ever present appetite?"

The boy smirked at his housemate. "Are you jealous that I can eat as much pudding as I want and not put on even a single pound?"

"It's a bit too soon for me to think about my weight. Keep dreaming on…"

Ambrose was about to say something back, and though more often than not Al was rather amused by their banter, this time he wanted some peace.

"What have we got next?" he asked.

"We have got Charms on the third floor with Ravenclaw, and then Transfiguration on the ground floor with Gryffindor," replied Scorp, as he was picking at his quiche.

"No, not another lesson with those dorks," moaned Am.

"Which dorks exactly?" asked Elizabeth, sipping on her pumpkin juice.

"Gryffindor, of course. I've had enough of that Dirk Quinby during Double Potions as it is. Another lesson with that chap for today will drive me crazy."

"Then why won't you simply seat with someone else?" asked Thea, on his other side.

"I wish I could, but that bloke is following me everywhere. Is he a stalker or something?" wondered the young Zabini.

"Either that or he is gay," said Liz, and then started chuckling. "Who would be gay over you? That boy is either blind or he's touched in the head."

"I agree on the second one, but I don't think he's interested in boys," mumbled Al. "And don't you think we are too young to discuss gay people?"

"Nope. And I'm definitely good looking enough for anybody going gay on me, thank you very much," smirked Ambrose, raising his goblet with pumpkin juice in a 'Cheers' gesture.

"Don't make me puke," grumbled Lizzy. "You definitely have a very high opinion of yourself, spoilt Prince," she stuck her tongue at him.

"The pot calling the kettle black," smirked Scorpius.

Near him, Al felt rather relieved. Scorp was slowly, but certainly becoming his old self back again, which was very reassuring and made the green eyed boy very happy.

"Not all the pots are black, nor are the kettles," said Thea, looking at the enchanted ceiling with distant eyes.

"Well, this one definitely is," replied Elizabeth, her tone saccharine, her pointed look almost piercing through Zabini.

"That's discrimination, I'll let you know," he said in a business-like manner.

"Oh please," she scoffed at him. "You are becoming the greatest male chauvinist Earth has seen with each passing day, so don't you talk about discrimination."

"Who is a chauvinist?" asked a sweet voice behind the eating group.

"Oh, Amor! We were just talking about your brother," replied the copper-haired girl.

"Lizzy, I'm afraid that he's a lost cause," Amorette dramatically shook her head. "However, I think we could still save Scorp, Al and Tristan from such a sad and pitiful fate."

"I don't need to be saved from anything," grumbled Tristan, as he passed by his housemate and took a sit opposite his sister.

"Where is Rosie?" inquired Albus, as the only other person to join their group was Sierra.

"After Double Herbology with that troublesome 'puffs, she left to find your cousins. Roxy and Lucy, I think it was," replied Tristan.

"Oh, she must've gone to the Gryffindor table, then," Al said absentmindedly.

"Why troublesome 'puffs, brother?" asked Liz.

"Because they've no idea what Herbology entails," he responded with a grunt. "I mean how stupid could you be to actually put your finger inside a carnivorous plant?"

"Ugh, why would they do that?" replied Lizzy disgusted.

"No idea, however it was a mess afterwards. Professor Longbottom had to stop the bleeding and clean everything and calm down that plant… In a nutshell, we had little interaction with the _Mandrakes_, not that I complain. However my ears almost fell off because of that puff's whining. As I said – troublesome."

"Who was the 'genius' to go anywhere near the _Darlingtonia Britannica_?" smirked Ambrose.

"Nolan Giles or something," shrugged Tristan. "Wait. How do you know the plant's name?"

"What can I say? I'm good at everything," he stuck his nose in the air, as if showing off his superior knowledge.

The other boy just raised one of his eyebrows and his incredulous, yet sarcastic look spoke for itself.

"Spoilt Prince," said Liz in a singsong, which made most people of the group chuckle or at least, grin.

* * *

September was rapidly turning into October, as the sun wasn't as warming, nor the leaves as green. The landscape of Scotland was continuously washed by downpours and storms. The wind was biting and a certain Draco Malfoy reapplied the warming charm on himself. Currently he was in Edinburgh, the '_Auld Reeky_', as some affectionately called it.

The Old Town, in all its glory, comprising medieval buildings, cathedrals, courts and halls, not to forget the Royal Mile and the Edinburgh Castle, was hidden from the sun by dark clouds and Draco knew they'd better get to their hotel as soon as possible.

The Gosberg case brought both the Head Auror and Senior Unspeakable to the capital city of Scotland, for the fugitive was most likely there for the time being. It hadn't progressed much, the 'exposing the secrets of the dark spell' part, that is, however the two of them had found out where the murderer was. And that, in Harry's book, was a rather acceptable development. 'Better less, than nothing,' he kept thinking.

"We should hurry up," said Draco. "It looks like it's going to rain in the next five seconds, not to mention that Granger must be already waiting for us."

"Yes, I know," replied Harry, increasing his pace. "And knowing Hermione, she will be waiting for us with a Pepperup potion and hot meals."

"Hopefully, you're right."

* * *

Hermione was looking out the window, when her best-friend and ex-nemesis arrived. She turned away from the beautiful panoramic view of the '_Britain's other eye_', and looked at the rather dishevelled state of the newcomers.

"There is some Pepperup potion for you, two," she said, gesturing towards the coffee table, that was in the middle of the room.

Draco smirked, and approached the table. He took two gulps of the potion, and felt steam going out of his ears. Though the feeling wasn't the most pleasant, having his body warm up instantly and finally being able to breathe normally without sniffing was something he revelled in. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," she smiled tired. "Harry, you too have some Pepperup potion, for you should go home as soon as possible. Lily is ill. I don't know exactly what the problem is, but she's got a very high fever and it seems that she is very lethargic and is throwing up."

Hearing that, Harry quickly swallowed some potion, and after bidding goodbye, left using the Floo Network.

"Is she going to be alright?" asked Draco frowning.

"Yes, I'm sure of that. There are few diseases that magic can't cure."

"I see."

"How about we have lunch and you will tell me everything you found out?" Hermione asked, as she was going towards the dining room.

"It's fine by me."

* * *

Though at first, their conversation had been about the Gosberg case, gradually they started discussing the mysterious spell Gosberg had created, which then made them talk about Magical Theories and in the end, they were talking about Hogwarts and reminiscing about their past.

"Oh, I think that the most hilarious part was when that pseudo-Moody turned you into a ferret, the Great Bouncing Ferret," she chuckled.

"I agree with the great part, however I do not know what ferret you are talking about," he scoffed, dismissing her 'accusations' with a wave of his hand.

"Oh, please, if you want I could show you my memories in a Pensive," she smiled. "That should definitely refresh your memory. I think that your age is catching up with you."

"Excuse me," he said incredulous. "That's blasphemy, I'll let you know. My memory is excellent, thank you very much. And there's no such thing as my age catching up with me, for we, Malfoys, have been blessed with very good looks, refined manners and astounding intelligence."

"And that's the part, where I say that you've got a receding hairline," she grinned. Teasing all Malfoys' vanity was a good laugh.

"Oh, please, your eyesight must be rather bad. I take it due to too much reading. Your bookish ways seem to have worsened as time passed by."

Now, Hermione was openly laughing. Though Malfoy had changed a lot, some characteristics of his personality hadn't. "You know, I'm surprised you haven't teased me about my hair yet. Or about my body shape, for that matter. Back then, these had been your favourites."

Even if Hermione still had quite the mane on her head, it was a beautiful one, and showed just how much vitality she possessed. And Draco couldn't really tease the woman about that, nor about her body. Giving birth to two children had done wonders. She was still quite thin, but now she possessed beautiful curves, that just invited you to touch them, and medium sized breasts, that looked perky enough to want to bury your head between them. Draco shook his head. Thinking about married women, when he'd lost his about three months before, wasn't right.

"You forgot about my absolute favourite – the Weasel," he smirked, thus changing the subject.

"Don't get me started, Draco," she exclaimed, still laughing.

Hearing her say his name was a bit of a shock, however a pleasant one.

* * *

"Al, stop fidgeting," whispered Scorpius, annoyed with his best friend.

"I'm nervous," the boy tried to defend himself.

"Oh, really? I couldn't tell," the blonde replied sarcastically. "Just calm down. Haven't you said just yesterday that we were the best and that we'd be the ones selected as a seeker and chaser?"

"That was yesterday, today is today."

"Oh, sweet Merlin. Where is your pride, man?"

"I thought Gryffindors were proud, and we were either arrogant or narcissistic…" Al trailed off.

"It doesn't matter; you're neither at the moment. Now, stop fidgeting and listen to Ansel."

The girl in question was currently suspiciously looking at the stands. That morning, the Quidditch trials for the Slytherin team were taking place, and having Ravenclaws and Gryffindors watching wasn't acceptable, in Ms Montague's opinion.

"What are they doing here?" she asked out loud, gesturing towards the stands.

"Hmm, Ravenclaws – Rose, Amorette, Sierra and Tristan, the group sitting near Ambrose, Elizabeth and Thea, are our friends. They came to support us," explained Scorpius.

"And what about Gryffindor's presence?" Ansel inquired.

"That's my brother and cousins," replied Albus. "I think they came here to either tease me, cause disturbance, or both."

"I want them gone," the captain said, looking pissed off.

"Oh, believe me, I want them gone, as well. Even more than you do."

"So why won't you take care of it?" she asked, rising her voice a bit too much.

"He's the elder brother. There isn't much I can do."

Ansel's eye twitched, but she didn't do anything else. "Oh well. Then we'll have to deal with it. Bloody nosy Gryffindor."

Afterwards the trials began, Al still fidgeting and Scorpius still telling him to stop.

* * *

It was much later, when the now new members of the Slytherin team finally got to eat something substantial. They were celebrating that not only Tristan made it on his team about a week before, but Scorpius and Albus now did as well. The party wasn't much per se, however they fact that they were all gathered together was enough.

"Now I'm really going to become a king," stated Al dramatically.

Am patted him on the shoulder. "That is the way to go, mate. I'm proud of you."

"There is nothing to be proud about, when you're becoming more and more like our spoilt Prince," scoffed Lizzy.

"You're jealous that I am a Prince, and you aren't one at all."

"I'll let you know that Elizabeth is the name of two great British queens, and Marie-Antoinette was the queen of France, so I don't need to be a Princess. I'm a Queen as it is."

"And in moments like these, is it ever so clear why you're in Slytherin. You're spoilt yourself," commented her brother in a laid back manner.

"As I always say, the pot calling the kettle black," added Scorpius.

"That's right, mate. At least somebody is aware of her evil ways," agreed Tristan.

Liz looked as if she wanted to strangle the duo in front of her, whereas Am didn't know whether to feel good that they had admonished her or feel bad, as they compared her to him. Albus, on the other hand, wanted peace.

"In the end, we all have our evil ways, but it doesn't mean that we don't have honest and honourable ones, as well," said Thea with a faraway look in her bottomless blue eyes.

"Well said, Thea," smiled Rose. "It's all about balancing the good and the bad parts of our personalities."

"Or the bookish and dramatic parts, as in Mable's case," smirked Ambrose.

"Hey! That's not true," exclaimed the girl, outraged. "And look who's talking! You definitely have to balance your eating habits and amour-propre."

"You're the one called Amorette, so you should know everything about amour-propre, daddy's girl."

And once again the siblings started their incessant banter.

Scorpius turned towards Sierra, who was giggling rather loudly. "How can you bear being around them during summer, for prolonged periods of time?"

Sierra just shook her head and continued giggling.

"I think she carries a pair of earmuffs," whispered Al, and his comment made the best friends snigger.

In the end, it was Rose, who finally having reached her limit cast a silencing spell on the both of them, and thusly they were left – ineffectively opening and closing their mouths, without making a sound. "Serves them right."

* * *

The days passed by bringing November, the sun got colder and colder, and the days became shorter and shorter. The Quidditch area near Hogwarts was overcrowded with students dressed either in green or yellow. The first match of the season – Slytherin vs Hufflepuff was to take place. Obviously everybody was excited.

Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy were slowly making their way through the crowd, towards one of the booths designated specially for parents and teachers. It was a rather bizarre sight, as behind them, trailing, was Neville Longbottom.

"Who do you think will win?" asked the professor, as they sat on the first row of the stands.

"My son's team, of course," Draco replied haughtily.

Both Neville and Harry shook their heads. Some things just never changed.

"I see your arrogance hasn't left you, yet," replied Harry, looking towards the Gryffindor side, trying to find his firstborn.

"You think the same way, Potter. At least, have the decency to admit that it's your Gryffindor pride that doesn't let you cheer for Slytherins."

"Well, it is a first," he responded. "I've never thought I'd do that."

"I understand your pain," said Neville. "But since Al is my godson, there is nothing left for me but cheer for him."

"I'd say this is karma," smirked Draco.

Harry rolled his eyes.

* * *

The match had been a fantastic show, Slyhtherin being the winner. Hufflepuffs weren't in their best shape, as their previous magnificent captain, Gabrielle Truman, had graduated. Her strategies had been the ones to bring victory more often than not to the badger house. Leopold Fleet was a good leader, but Gabrielle took Quidditch to a completely new, much higher level. The Slytherin team had had lots of tricks upon their sleeve, but admissible and fair, mind you. Their playing had been spontaneous and full of complex tactics.

"Who would have thought that Graham's girl was this talented?" Draco wondered out-loud, as they were leaving the booths.

"By Graham you mean Montague Graham? Hadn't he been a captain and chaser as well?" asked Neville.

"That's him," answered Harry instead of Draco. "However, unlike his daughter, he used to play dirty."

Draco chuckled, but said nothing on the matter. "Well, Potter, aren't you proud that your son caught the snitch?"

"Of course, I am," Harry grinned. "And I'm really lucky that Al's first match was against Hufflepuff and not Gryffindor."

"Oh, yes. You would've been stuck between a rock and a hard place," commented Neville, "literally."

"Yes, can you imagine cheering for both Slytherin and Gryffindor? Not to mention what my sons would feel like."

Draco smirked once again. "Karma, Potter, karma."

As Harry wanted to reply he felt somebody, of a much lower height collide with his back. As he turned around he saw his youngest son, his eyes shining with unshed tears of joy.

"Have you watched me, dad?" he asked, his voice loud and exhilarated.

"I have, kid, you were the best," his father proudly stated and hugged his son. "I can't wait to tell your mother."

"Knowing mum she will start crying and gushing," the boy smiled as he let go of his father. Al was still in his Quidditch form and he smelled unpleasantly.

"That's right. And you sister will complain about how unfair it is that she's not allowed to come here and watch you," he added. "And most likely, she will throw another tantrum."

"That's Lily-bee," Al said with affection.

"So many hormones, I think I might have indigestion," complained Draco.

"Oh, good afternoon, Mr Malfoy. Scorp is going to be here soon," the boy informed his best friend's father. "He said that it wasn't becoming of a Malfoy to be smelly and sticky."

"That's right," stated Draco, raising his pointy chin higher. "I've taught him well."

Neville shook his head. "The poor boy… But you have been great, Al. We're proud. Your godmother will be very happy when I will tell her about your excellent performance."

"Thanks, Professor Longbottom," Al smiled. "But don't worry about Scorp. If anything you should worry about Ambrose, he's the Prince."

Draco raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Eh? Zabini's kid? Didn't know he had it in him."

"Actually, father, the one to worry about is Al, here," said Scorpius behind them, as he approached his parent. He was already sporting his black robes, with a tie and custom-made cufflinks and everything. "Everybody calls him King."

Harry's eyes dangerously widened and looked at his son. "Why would the call you the king of Slytherin?"

"I hadn't said he was the king of Slytherin," answered the blonde before Al could. Smirking, he added, "I just said the King. Those who matter know why."

"I see there's another doppelganger," said somebody sighing, behind the gathered group. They all turned towards the voice, and true enough, George Weasley was there grinning.

"George, hi! You were here?" asked Harry. "Why haven't you told me or joined me to watch the match?"

"Well, I had some stuff to take care of with my subordinates, so I dropped by. But I was in the Gryffindor booths. Lee's Paul is just like him. However there hadn't been as many jabs at Slytherin as there should've been. I guess it's because of Al, here. By the way, you were great," said George, ruffling the boy's already messy hair, as the latter lowered his head a bit, in silent gratitude. "You too, blondie number two."

Draco's expression turned rather sour; however Scorpius didn't mind the other man's teasing. He just smirked back.

Harry, however, had other concerns. "By subordinates, you mean James and Fred, don't you?"

"Those two, and Paul as well," confirmed his brother-in-law.

"George, take care with those three. They're causing a lot of trouble, as it is. I'm really sick and tired of receiving notifications and warnings from the Headmistress every single month or so."

"Harry, brother, don't worry. Everything is alright. But… I have to go, business doesn't wait. See you Harry, Al, blondie number two, number one, Neville. Visit _WWW_ more often!" he cheerfully said, as he was leaving.

"Who does he think he is?" asked Draco, his eye twitching at the nerve of the red-head.

"I think he's cool," said Scorpius still watching the former (?) prankster walk away.

Draco's eyes reflected utter horror as he looked at his only child, and then turned his accusing stare towards the other two ex-Gryffindors. "That's your fault. You've brainwashed my son!"

Neville started laughing, as Harry smirked in a very Slytherin way. "Karma, Malfoy, karma."

Al and Scorp didn't really understand what they were talking about, so they just shrugged and kept watching the older Malfoy throwing murderous glares towards Potter Sr. and their Herbology teacher.

* * *

**Explanation of some things that might be confusing:**

**1**_**.**__Darlingtonia Britannica _does exist in our world, and it is a carnivorous plant. In my story, this plant is even more aggressive and dangerous, when disturbed. That is mostly due to the magical components the compost to nourish it is made of.

**2. **Edinburgh is sometimes called the '_Auld Reeky_' (Middle Scots for Old Smoky), because when buildings were heated by coal and wood fires, chimneys would spew thick columns of smoke into the air. Also, the poet Ben Jonson considered it '_Britain's other eye_'.

**3. **According to J. K. Rowling, Pepperup potions are used when one has got a cold, and after drinking it, steam is going out of one's ears.

**4. **While at school, the children don't call Neville – uncle, as they are used to at home. And in my story, Albus is the godson of Neville and Hannah, James of Hermione and Ron, and Lily of Luna and Rolf.

**A quick poll for entertainment purposes:**

_Which one of the following formal/informal organisations is your favourite? _

A) Order of the Phoenix  
B) Ministry of Magic  
C) Death Eaters  
D) Dumbledore's Army  
E) Other. Let me know!

**My own answer to the previous poll: **I think that the school I am most intrigued about is Mahoutokoro. Japan is my second favourite country, and its rich history, culture and lots and lots of traditions make me wonder what their Wizarding World is like. I would like to study in Hogwarts myself, but as we know quite a lot about it, Mahoutokoro is my choice.

Please review!


	20. Of confessions and gatherings

**Author's Notes:  
**  
Well, here it is, the 19th chapter. This chapter is one of the turning points in my story, so I think you might find it rather shocking.

Thank you very much for reading my story and following it!

Your support means the world to me and it helps me continue writing. I'm very grateful!

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no profit from this work of art. However, I do own the plot and some OCs. The image belongs to **charmontez**.

* * *

**Chapter 19. Of confessions and gatherings**

A certain red-head was looking out of the window, reminiscing of his time with a certain mistress of his. It had been quite a while since Ron had last seen Karin. Back in September he told her that their affair of more than 18 months had to come to an end. He remembered the way her eyes had been covered by a thin sheen of unshed tears, the way her hands had been trembling with anger and fury, how she had screeched at him, called him a liar and a disgusting cheater, how she had accused him of using her and throwing her away once he'd had his fill. When she accidently mentioned that she had planned on her getting pregnant with his child, the one to be furious was him. Ron accused her of being a gold-digger, a woman with no principles and no honour, whatsoever.

A certain blondie number two had he been watching them, would've said, "The pot calling the kettle black."

Karin soon realised what she had done by admitting her plans, and quickly apologised, but it was too late. Ron coldly informed her that she could keep the flat, however, he wouldn't pay the mortgage anymore, so whatever she did afterwards was her business, he couldn't have cared less.

More than three months had passed since their confrontation, and Ron couldn't believe just how lucky he had been. Somehow he always remembered to be careful when he had visited her. It seemed that the Heavens were on his side, for she hadn't got pregnant as she had wanted. He couldn't even imagine what would've happened, if things had progressed in a different manner. He was certain Hermione would've never forgiven him for cheating on her, and for such a long time to boot.

'She'll never know. She doesn't have to…'

* * *

Harry was watching his wife preparing dinner and still couldn't believe just how lucky he had been to make her love him and accept his marriage proposal when he'd asked for her hand. She was rather hot-headed and sometimes jumped to conclusions way too quickly, and yet despite her fierce personality, she was kind-hearted, a great mother and a perfect wife overall, at least in his opinion.

As he was watching her, he was trying to think of ways to approach a certain delicate subject. At last, once he found a bit of courage, he spoke. "Ginny, can you join me at the table, please? I've got something to ask you, and I'd like to talk to you face to face."

Ginny was a bit intrigued by her husband's request, and after making sure that the food wouldn't get burned, took a sit opposite Harry.

"You know how these past months I had worked with Malfoy?"

Ginny nodded. "Yes, I do."

"Well, I got to know him better, and both Hermione and I realised that he actually isn't that bad. He has changed quite a lot, well except his arrogance, it's still there. Anyway, I was thinking, that as we're celebrating Christmas at our home, we could invite him and Scorpius, as well. Narcissa and Lucius are leaving tomorrow for a sanatorium in Switzerland, and I don't think that for the two of them spending the holidays cooped up in that enormous mansion is going to be much fun. So what do you think?"

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised that you've been thinking about inviting him, and I've got nothing against it, however we're still celebrating Christmas with our family, and Ron is part of it. The others wouldn't mind, but Ron definitely would."

Harry nodded, his expression thoughtful. "I know, but if we were to make sure that neither of them causes a scene, it wouldn't be a problem, would it?"

"Definitely not. Besides, what's another small addition to our bunch? There are lots of us as it is. If blondie number one and two come, I don't see a problem. I'm sure Al will be very happy."

Harry smiled and leant in to kiss his wife. "You are the best!"

"Of course I am," Ginny replied cheekily. "Mum will be delighted that she gets to feed yet more people. By the way, you are the one to inform them about Malfoy coming on Christmas, at the next Sunday Brunch."

Harry laughed, and after giving his wife another kiss, left to right the invitation letter for Malfoy.

* * *

The Great Hall was brimming with live. Everybody was either cheerfully chattering, eating the delicious meals in front of them or spacing out, dreaming about snow-fights and making angels in the snowdrifts. It was a rather cloudless Saturday morning, therefore the students couldn't wait to go outside and have fun.

At the Slytherin table, Albus Severus Potter was currently squished between Scorpius and Tristan as they were discussing the upcoming Quidditch matches. Ambrose, a fellow avid Quidditch lover, was strangely enough absent, for he was happily sleeping in, that day. At first, the girls were attentively following the boys' conversation, but soon enough got bored and they started discussing plans and the gifts they would buy for Christmas.

At about 9.30 am, the Great Hall was suddenly invaded by the hooting of hundreds of owls. Amidst them was Udele and she very quickly found her master and delivered the letter addressed to him. Albus affectionately patted the brown creature, gave her some bits of bacon, and after a quick peck on his finger from her, she flew away.

"Who is the letter from?" asked Scorpius, as he continued eating his porridge.

"From dad. Let me see what he's written."

He quickly unfolded the letter and started silently reading.

_11 December 2018_

_Dear son,_

_I hope that you are enjoying your time at Hogwarts and the bright days of winter. I was glad to read that you are doing very well at school, especially at Charms and Potions. I'm sure your taking your study very seriously, but have fun as well. Too much studying isn't very good either, both for your health and spirits._

_I'm very happy that you like your Quidditch team and the training sessions. The latter are rather strenuous, so take care not to push yourself too hard. I can't even remember how many times I had suffered from muscle soreness. However, if you do suffer from it, make sure to relax with a hot bath afterwards. It does work miracles. _

_I have got very good news for you. Guess who is invited to our Christmas party? I'll give you some hints: there are two of them, both of them are blondes, the eldest is rather arrogant, whilst the youngest – sarcastic. That's right, kid! The Malfoys. As you might know, Scorpius' grandparents have left for Switzerland, and your aunt Hermione and I thought that it would be a good idea to invite your housemate and his father to our party. I've just received his letter accepting our invitation, so I thought I'd let you know as soon as possible._

_I've sent a similar letter to James, so you don't have to inform him of our Christmas plans, but tell Rosie about this, I'm not sure whether Hermione had had enough time to tell her the news. As the holiday season is coming, we've got lots of work to do, here at the Ministry._

_And speaking about the Ministry, Lizzy's father contacted me and it seems that she had asked him about you and your friends going to their house for another slumber party. It came as a surprise, as you hadn't told me anything about it, but anyway, you're allowed to go._

_I hope you'll enjoy the snow, and most likely, the snow-fights, and your mother asked to remind you to wear warm clothes and eat properly. And you better do that, kid; you don't want your nana worrying about you being too thin._

_You mother sends you lots of love and Lily is still sulking without you and your brother. At least there's Hugo to keep her company._

_I miss you very much and I can't wait to see you._

_With love,  
Your dad._

"I can't believe it!" exclaimed Albus, once he finished reading the letter.

"What?" asked his friends, expectantly looking at him.

"Scorp, you and your father are going to be at our place for Christmas!"

The blonde looked with widened eyes at his best friend, still trying to process what he's just heard. 'I will get to spend Christmas with the Potters and Weasleys?'

Rose, who had also been rather shocked, came to her senses much faster. "Wicked! This celebration is going to be the best ever!"

"I know! I can't wait," grinned Al. "Mate, what do you think?"

"Of course, I think that this is brilliant!" stated Scorpius smirking. He couldn't believe his luck. Though he would have preferred to have his mother by his side, going to Grimmauld Place was still wonderful, in his opinion.

"Oh, I wish I could come, as well. I'm sure it's going to be so nice," sighed Elizabeth.

"But hey, dad wrote that your father asked whether I could come to your slumber party, and I'm allowed to go. I'm sure aunt Hermione will let Rose join us, as well. By the way, why haven't you told us about it before?"

"Well, I wanted to make sure that my parents would give me permission to hold it in the first place, but he hadn't written to me about this. Not yet, anyway."

"Father has written to me," Tristan informed her. "He wanted to surprise his spoilt little princess. He had already talked to everybody's parents and they had all agreed. You got your way, Tony."

"Really? I'm so happy! And stop calling me that."

"Which one is 'that'? Spoilt little princess or Tony?"

The girl with copper curls stuck her tongue at him. "Both."

"We're having another slumber party!" exclaimed Amor, oblivious to the siblings' banter. "Can't wait!"

Near her, Sierra enthusiastically nodded. "And this time I will get to come, as well!"

* * *

On 23 December, most of the students were going back home to spend Christmas with their loved ones. In one of the compartments, Rose, Amor and Lizzy were eagerly making plans for their second slumber party; Al and Scorpius were discussing the upcoming Christmas gathering; Tristan was reading an introductory book about Ancient Runes; Ambrose was dosing off; Sierra and Thea were discussing the importance of prophecies and what the stars had predicted for the upcoming new year.

Once the red train reached King's Cross Station, the children were met by their waiting parents. Theodore Nott happily embraced his 'spoilt little princess'; Amor went straight to her mother and little baby-sister, who was looking around enraptured; Rose was picked up and kissed on her cheeks by her father; Al was almost knocked down by Lily, as she clung to him with as much strength as she could muster; Scorpius was, in a rather uncharacteristically affectionate way, hugged by his father. The Malfoy Manor seemed depressingly deserted, without Draco's parents, wife and child in it. He couldn't wait to have his boy home, to liven up the house a bit.

Once all the children greeted their parents, the latter once again discussed the arrangements to be made for the slumber party. Ron was a bit peeved that Hermione insisted on letting Rosie go to the ex-Slytherin's house, however he knew that the girl would be upset with him if he didn't agree. He had got slightly estranged from his daughter and he didn't want to ruin his chances at improving their relationship. Since he wasn't very keen on talking to either Nott, Malfoy or Zabini, he let his wife talk to them. In the meantime, he chose to talk to his nephews, Fred, James and Paul.

"So it's decided," stated Theo. "On 26 December, I will floo-call each of you and inform you when to send you children to my house. Hopefully, there won't be any problems. Potter got some tips for me?"

Harry grinned. The man in front of him had no idea what hell he was in for. "Take five days off work."

"Why five? They're only staying for three."

Harry's grin got even larger. "Believe me you'll need at least two days to recover. I know I did. And you'd better keep them as entertained as possible, otherwise they will find things do to on their own, and believe me you don't want that. Oh, and just as a precaution, prohibit any flying inside the house."

Theodore's eyes widened, as near him, Blaise started chuckling. "I'm really sorry for you, Theo."

Everybody could hear the sarcasm in Zabini's voice. Marianne Nott, on the other hand, got even more worried. "I hope these slumber parties won't become a tradition."

"I'm afraid it's too late," Hermione kindly smiled at the troubled woman. "Are you sure you don't want some help? At least, with the food preparation?"

"Thank you. If it gets out of hand, I'll let you know."

"Marianne, really, if the children cause too much trouble, you'll let us know immediately, alright?" asked Mia Zabini, as she gently rocked Aura back and forth.

"Don't worry, Mia, I'm sure we'll manage… somehow."

Ginny really pitied her. "At least you've got nine of them to look after. We had ten. But as Hermione said, if you need help, contact us. I should be mostly at home."

Nott's wife nodded in agreement and the parents finally dispersed taking their brood home.

* * *

That year's Christmas celebration, with Malfoy attending, started rather awkward. Some minutes before the father and son were about to arrive, Harry had reminded everybody to treat his guests nicely.

"Ron, you especially. Please, don't start any quarrels. He said he wouldn't approach you, so you do the same," he said while looking at his best male friend, and then turned his attention towards the young members of his numerous family. "Kids, please no pranks tonight. It's been a very hard year for those two; at least let them enjoy a peaceful and tranquil Christmas."

Angelina, who had lectured her own children about refraining from creating trouble, looked at her nephews, nieces and even husband menacingly. "Don't worry, Harry. I'll make sure they behave themselves. Or else…"

At his wife's glare, George felt shivers run down his back. "Don't worry, love, everything will progress as smoothly as possible."

As George finished his sentence, his mother entered the room; plates full to the brim with food were floating behind her. "You'd better, George. Merlin knows what that little boy had to go through. He's so young. And just how pale he is," Molly kept mumbling about Scorpius' emotional and physical state, and Harry felt very sorry for the boy; he remembered what it was like to be fussed about by the Weasley matriarch.

* * *

Draco, dressed in dashing evening robes, along with his son, arrived via floo at 6 pm, on the dot. The Potter head of the family and Albus were the ones to meet them in the drawing room, and to lead them to the dining room. As they were descending the staircase, Draco, though on the outside appeared rather uninterested by his surroundings, was still looking now and then at the interior of the house. Harry caught the man's veiled curiosity and started enumerating all the changes Grimmauld Place had undergone, in order to be more or less pleasant to live in. As the years passed by, the Potter couple had made it very comfortable and rather stylish.

As Harry finished describing the redecoration of the Black ancestral home, Draco nodded. "Mother will be pleased to find out that the house hadn't gone to the dogs. I was told she had been here during her childhood quite a lot."

"Yes, Andromeda told me that it was at this house that she took private lessons, along with her sisters and cousins."

As they reached the dining room, they were met with a wonderful aroma, coming from the hot meals spread on the table, and lots of Weasleys, as well as Andromeda and Teddy.

Both he and his son greeted those present. "Good evening and Merry Christmas."

They were answered in the same way. His aunt was the first one to approach him, kiss him on both cheeks and then do the same with Scorpius, who until then had been whispering with his best friend.

"I'm glad to see you here, Draco."

"Thank you, aunt Andromeda. My mother sends her regards," he responded, lowering his head in respect for the older woman.

"Ah, yes, I have received a card from her. I'm glad she finds Switzerland very pleasant."

"Indeed," answered Draco, and then turned his head towards the home's hostess, Ginny. "Thank you for your invitation," another lowering of his head.

The red-head a bit ill at ease with the blonde's politeness, just said that they were welcome. "Well, you're acquainted with most of us, except Audrey, here."

The woman, still held by her husband, smiled at Draco. "I'm Audrey Weasley. Pleased to meet you."

In a gentlemanly fashion, he inclined his head at her. "I am Draco Malfoy, and my son is Scorpius Malfoy. The pleasure is ours."

The atmosphere turned rather tense with silence as nobody knew what exactly to say. Tory nudged her boyfriend. Ted looked at the girl in his embrace, and through her pointed gaze, she told him to do something as _he_ was the newcomers' relative.

"Well, now that we all know each other, how about we actually sit down? I'm starving. And it's good to see you, Draco! Scorp, you too!"

Victoire shook her head. Her boyfriend's greeting wasn't exactly what she had been expecting, however it did work. Molly and her daughter quickly started seating everybody around the table, and once they were all seated, her oldest sons started pouring different beverages in the diners' goblets per everybody's preferences.

"What would you like?" asked Charlie, as he was the one seated nearest to Draco. The both of them didn't know each other that well, though they did meet before. Ginny and Harry, had made special seating arrangements beforehand, so Malfoy would be near people who didn't hold any grudges against the blonde, and thus would treat him more or less courteously.

"Some elf-made wine would be splendid, thank you."

After Charlie poured the alcohol, he looked at Hermione, who was seated on the right side of Draco. "Oak matured mead as always, Hermione?"

Smiling, she shook her head. "Thank you, but I think Elderflower wine would go better with this evening's meals."

As her brother-in-law summoned the beverage with his wand, Draco turned towards Hermione. "Elderflower wine? I believe I haven't heard of it. Is it brought from overseas?"

The curly-haired woman once again smiled. "Actually, no, it is not. It is Molly's own creation. It's rather tasty, you should try it."

"I certainly will. Thank you."

On her other side, Ron frowned. He really didn't like Malfoy interacting with his wife, but there wasn't much he could do. He'd been threatened by his mother, sister and wife to refrain from causing a scene; being on the other end of the women's ire wasn't a pleasant feeling. Still frowning he helped himself to a rather generous amount of Firewhiskey.

Catching that, Hermione shot her husband a concerned look. "Ron," she whispered, "don't you think it's a bit too much?"

"Don't worry, love. I can hold my liquor."

Hermione wasn't very convinced, but she let it go; Harry was about to give his speech. Every single Christmas dinner, held either at the Burrow or at 12 Grimmauld Place, was to begin with the respective house-head's speech. The room brimming with noise, quietened as soon as Harry stood up.

"Thank you very much for coming here, today," he started, looking at everybody. "I believe this holiday is to be celebrated with one's relatives and friends, and I'm happy that this day hasn't lost its meaning or its importance, for we get to gather like this and be surrounded by warmth and affection. This year has been a rather hard one, and I hope that the next one will bring more happy moments, and that at the end of it, we will once again be together.

"Time passes by too quickly, and every turn in our life is another challenge with unknown outcomes, so we should relish every second of it and be grateful for what we have. I believe this holiday is there to remind us that there's no better place than amidst your loved ones, and that without family we've got nothing. So let's enjoy today while it lasts and thank the Heavens for bringing all of us here."

Harry smiled and raised his goblet, the others following his example. "Merry Christmas! Cheers!"

Everybody repeated his words, and they all clinked their goblets and took a sip. Afterwards, conversations started anew and the diners helped themselves to the food on the table.

* * *

It was almost midnight and everybody was in the drawing room leisurely talking and having tea with milk, or as in Ron's case – with Firewhiskey. The room was the only one big enough to accommodate such a large group of people, and the warmth provided by the wood-burning fireplace made the atmosphere homey and relaxed. The Weasleys had long since got comfortable in Draco's presence, so the evening had been lovely.

The youngest children were showing off their presents to Louis and Molly; the three second years were discussing Hogwarts; James and Fred were preparing a list of pranks for the second and third term of the academic year; Victoire and Ted were talking about her moving into his flat in the near future. Dominique had left for her boyfriend's house as soon as the dinner had finished.

Andromeda and Molly were discussing the highly possible birth of a common gran-grandchild in a couple of years or so; Arthur and Audrey were talking about the new things the muggles had invented; Charlie, Ginny and Angelina were making predictions on the outcome of the Quidditch World Cup that was to take place in the summer of the following year. Draco, Harry and Hermione had been joined by Bill and Fleur in the discussion of the Gosberg case. As the red-headed man was an excellent curse-breaker, his input on Gosberg's spell was of great value.

In the opposite corner of the room, on a sofa, Ron, George and, surprisingly, Percy were gossiping about the latter's subaltern, who had been caught by his wife in their bed with another woman.

"I heard he -," *hic*, "had been hexed -," *hic*, "by his wife -," *hic*, "into oblivion." Ron was thoroughly drunk, and could barely pronounce a word without either hiccupping or prolonging the vowels.

Percy shook his head at his youngest brother's pitiful state and stood up. "Ron, how about I get you some water? And let me take that from you. I think you've had enough."

As he tried to take his brother's goblet, the latter with a bit of an effort stood up, as well, and hid the drink behind his back. "I'm alright," Ron slurred.

As the goblet was out of his reach, Percy sat down again, sighing. George, who hadn't paid much attention to his siblings' brief disagreement, kept on asking about the official who had an extramarital affair. "So for how long had he cheated on his wife?"

The Head of DT thought for a while. "I'm not sure… My assistant mentioned something about two months or so."

"HA! HA! HA!" Ron's loud, drunken laughter had resounded through the entire room and everybody, startled by it, looked at him. Hermione felt like the room had caught fire, she felt that embarrassed by her husband's behaviour.

'He definitely can't hold his liquor,' her thoughts turned bitter. 'Look at him! He can't even hold his drink upright.' Near her, Harry thought of the same, and they both stood up, about to approach the drunk man. Unconsciously, Draco also rose from his sit, trying to see what would happen.

"HA! HA! HA!" Ron continued laughing, almost doubling over. "Such a toss-pot!" *hic* "Caught after a two months affair," he continued laughing. "Such an amateur!" *hic* "I hadn't been caught even after almost two years!"

The room froze. The auror hadn't caught that, for his amused roars and rants about the 'inexperienced at cheating' Ministry worker kept him rather occupied. His mother gasped, her hand going to her heart; his father lowered his head ashamed; all of his siblings and sisters-in-law had their eyes widened; the children were either confused or looking at him shocked.

Hermione stopped in her tracks. Her eyes were getting wet, her cheeks paling and chest shaking in silent weeping. Harry at first ceased walking towards his brother-in-law, when he realised what he had just heard, but then he lunged at Ron, and grabbed him with both hands by his shirt.

"What did you say?"

Ron, in his inebriated state, didn't understand what his best friend was talking about. He did stop laughing though, when he saw Harry's ferocious expression. "What do you mean?" *hic* "I said that bloke was a -," *hic*, "loser and newbie."

The Chosen One got even angrier. "No, about _you_ cheating on _your own_ wife?"

"Ah, that…" the red-head slurred. "It's been about three months since then, mate." *hic* "Nothing to get your knickers in a twist for," Ron finished with a drunken grin.

Seeing red, Harry released Ron, and was about to punch the living daylights out of him, when a hand stopped him.

"No need to dirt your hands with this kind of species," said Draco, his voice smooth, yet he looked sickened by Weasley's words. "He's not worth it."

"Mate, what are you doing?" hiccupped Ron confused. "What are you so pissed off about?"

The green-eyed man was too enraged to listen to anything else, and tried to hit his friend again, when the same hand stopped him once more. "Potter! If I were you, I'd check on her," he tilted his head in Hermione's direction.

If there was one thing more important than beating Ron to a pulp, it was Hermione. He quickly looked at his best friend, and as Draco said the one he should've worried about was her. After her husband's last self-incriminating words, she had crumbled to the floor, hot tears streaming down her cheeks. Fleur, who had been closest to her, was now trying to calm her crying sister-in-law.

Harry quickly rushed to her, and took her into his arms. Effortlessly lifting her body, he turned towards Bill. The older man was a bit taken aback by Harry's look. He was once again reminded that the latter was the one to kill Voldemort, that he was a Head Auror and was born to be a leader. "By the time we are back, I want him gone." Bill nodded in reply.

"Ginny," Harry looked at his wife, "please, take care of the kids and guests." Ginny knew which children he was mostly thinking about – Rose and Hugo.

The two best friends left the room. Once they reached the ground floor, Harry summoned their cloaks, and after putting them on, went outside the door.

The first hours of the Boxing Day were rather windy and cold. That month hadn't snowed in London, it had rained instead. The trees, the sky, the streets and the neighbourhood were as bare as Hermione felt on the inside.

* * *

**A quick poll for entertainment purposes:**

_Which one of the following OC characters is your favourite so far? _

A) Elizabeth Antoinette Nott  
B) Amorette Mabel Zabini  
C) Thea Dinah Doyle  
D) Tristan Raven Nott  
E) Other. Let me know!

**My own answer to the previous poll: **My favourite organisation is Dumbledore's Army. It seems brilliant!

I would be really grateful if you told me whether my writing had improved or not.  
Please review!


	21. Of life altering decisions

**Author's Notes:  
**  
Well, it seems that some of you couldn't wait for the 20th chapter, and here it is. It is also one of the turning points in the story, or more like a continuation of the previous one.

**ATTENTION****!  
**This chapter contains another **nine words sentence that will change the life of a certain character**. Find the sentence and guess whose destiny it will change!

Thank you so much for reading my FanFiction, following it, and reviewing!

Your support and feedback give me the strength to go on and continue writing this story. I'm so grateful!

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no profit from this work of art. However, I do own the plot and some OCs. The image belongs to **charmontez**.

* * *

**Chapter 20. Of life-altering decisions**

It was the first time in 21 years that Harry did not go towards the cemetery of Godric's Hollow as soon as he apparated there. He was still carrying Hermione, when they got to a bench, not far from the graveyard and the nearby church. Gently, the man put his best friend down and touched her cold and wet cheeks.

He started wiping all the traces of her grief and intensely looked at her. "Hermione, I wish I knew what to say or do to make this better, but I don't know what…"

He lowered his head in defeat. "I'm so sorry," he whispered. "You don't deserve this, none of this…"

Hermione sadly looked at him. She lifted her hand and put it on his shoulder. "That you're here is enough. I don't think that even a miracle could make this situation better. Well, if it were a nightmare it could, but it is not, and I have to come to terms with that."

Harry slightly nodded and covered her little hand with his. "I can't believe that he could do something like this to you. It does seem like a nightmare."

"It's not that unbelievable, you know… As you remember, he had acted very strange while he was with that other woman. It seems that I was right, he did go through a mid-life crisis and once it passed, he broke up with her."

"You talk like…" His eyes widened. "You-you want to go back to him? Hermione, he also might be my best friend, but you can't go back to him! He hurt you, you and your children, for Merlin's sake!"

The corners of her lips went upwards, a bit. "I wasn't put in Gryffindor only because I was brave, I have got my pride, as well. I'm not going back to him. Living together would be impossible, for I would never be able to forgive him for betraying me. Not again."

It was then that Harry remembered that when Ron had left him during the Horcrux hunt, his best mate hadn't left only him. He had left Hermione, as well.

"However, I don't want the children to be involved in this," she continued. "He might have cheated on me, but that's got nothing to do with either Rose or Hugo. Tomorrow, I will talk to them. Explain the situation to them and after sending Rose to Nott's and Hugo to the Burrow, I will file for a divorce. I'll ask for a sole custody, but Ron will be able to see them whenever he'd want to."

"I understand. I want you to know that I'll be on your side no matter what. As I said, he might be my best friend, but you're my sister. Hurting you is unacceptable."

They hugged each other and stood up. And as they had done for 20 times before, they left for the graveyard.

* * *

It was 3 am, when the two friends came back, and they were rather shocked to see Malfoy still at 12 Grimmauld Place. Harry thought that Draco would've left as soon as possible, but it seemed that he had been wrong.

As Hermione sat on the sofa near Draco, he looked at her for a long moment.

"Is there something wrong with my face, Draco? Except my red eyes, nose and cheeks, that is."

"No. Nothing is wrong," he said, and fell quiet for a bit. "Are you – hmm – alright?"

The very physically and emotionally exhausted woman smiled. "Kind of. It will be better in the morning."

"I put the children to sleep in the guest rooms," Ginny informed her, as she entered the drawing room, carrying a cup of tea for Hermione.

As she took it from her sister-in-law, Hermione's small and hesitant smile reappeared. "Thank you, Ginny. And I'm so sorry that my intimate life with Ron has ruined your evening."

"What are you talking about? I should be the one to apologise for my brother's awful and horrendous behaviour. I still can't believe that he actually did it. I wanted to hex him, but he was so drunk that he wouldn't have even remembered it, the next morning. But don't worry; I plan to change that when I take Lily and Hugo to the Burrow. Mum took him there... I haven't exercised my Bat-Bogey Hex for quite some time now."

"Thank you, Ginny. But there's no need. He's your brother; I don't want you to be at odds with him because of me."

"But you're also my sister, so I really couldn't care less if he's at odds with me. And let me tell you, I'm not the only one who wants to punch or hex him."

"What do you mean?"

Draco was the one to reply. "Aunt Andromeda was rather enraged. I was kindly reminded that she's also a cunning Black and a former Slytherin, this evening. Though, I didn't know that she was _that_ protective of you."

"Andromeda loves her as a daughter," said Harry, as he came inside, changed into more comfortable clothes and a glass of Elderflower wine in his hand. "Once we came back from Australia, I immediately started my auror training, and Andromeda was unwell and couldn't take care of Teddy by herself, so Hermione was the one to help her. Although, she went back to Hogwarts in September for her seventh year, Hermione unlike others had the privilege to leave the castle whenever she wanted, so she stayed with Andromeda."

"As expected from the goody-two shoes Granger," teased Draco, but there was no malice in his words. Somehow it even relaxed her. "But why would you go to Australia? As far as I know the Dark Lord had had no influence there."

Harry, who felt he was indirectly to blame for her parents' absence in her life, immediately tensed. Palpable pain could be seen in his eyes.

Hermione wanted to spare her best friend from explaining that period of their life. "The summer before our supposed seventh year, I have wiped all the memories from my parents' head about me. Well, not wiped completely, just locked. It was as if I'd never existed. I did that to protect them. They became Wendell and Monica Wilkins, a couple with no children, but a great ambition to live in Australia. In July, after the war, we went there to bring them back. There wasn't a single trace of my parents. No spell could find them; no muggle law enforcement squad had any record of them living there. I wonder if I had made a mistake when I cast the spell. What if instead of Australia they went somewhere else? They could be anywhere… or they could be dead."

Her eyes glazed over, and Draco knew that she was still haunted by that loss, by that uncertainty. "I refuse to believe that Hermione Granger, the ridiculously bright witch, could make such a mistake. I think that after Australia, they simply left for some other place. Life is full of unexpected things. A lot could have happened in a year. I know it from my own experience."

Ginny felt her eyebrows go upwards from the shock; she had never thought that there would be a day when Draco Malfoy would pay a compliment to Hermione Granger. Not to mention, actually reassure the woman about her being bright and incapable of making a mistake, when it came to magic at least. She felt like pinching herself. It definitely wasn't a dream. The Great Bouncing Ferret had actually changed and matured, just like her husband had told her.

Harry, on the other side, was pleasantly content with Draco's words and simply nodded in agreement.

"Andromeda had lost almost all her family in a matter of some months, and I felt like I should be there with her," said Hermione in a small voice. "I think it was the right thing to do. We have bonded on a completely different level. Your aunt is a really marvellous, intelligent and compassionate both woman _and_ witch. I even wish I were truly related to her…"

* * *

The morning of 26 December found the Potters, Hermione with her children, and Draco with Scorpius in the kitchen of 12 Grimmauld Place. The latter duo slept in the guest room on the first floor, as it was rather late when they finished talking and the boy, who had been thoroughly exhausted by the previous evening, was sleeping too tightly, and Ginny proposed that they just stayed overnight. When they woke up, Draco called Letti and had her bring them some clothes, as well as the little one's bag for his slumber party.

When Hermione woke up, she took the clothes Ginny had given her, and magically modified them a bit, so they would suit her better. After a shower, she went after Hugo and Rosie, and the three of them locked themselves in the drawing room so they could talk.

"I-I don't really want to see dad, now," said Rose, as she looked down, ashamed by her own words. Hugo was suspiciously silent.

"But, love, he's your daddy. No matter what happens between him and me, you two are still his children. And he loves the both of you."

"I'm just disappointed," the girl mumbled. "When Scorpius lost his mother and we were at St. Mungo's, I saw how sad Mr Malfoy had been. I thought that dad would've been the same, had it been you instead of Mrs Malfoy. But now… I'm not so sure. I realised that day, how lucky we were that you weren't hurt."

"But, Rosie -,"

"He hurt you. That is why I don't want to see him. Besides, I want to go to Lizzy's party."

Hermione sighed in frustration. Fortunately or unfortunately, Rose was very stubborn. If she had already made her mind, nothing could change it. "I understand."

"Are you going to separate?" asked Hugo in almost a whisper. That night, he hadn't really understood what his father had said, but when Lily explained it to him, he felt very confused and even a little bit lost. He didn't know what would happen afterwards.

Their mother gathered all her courage and nodded. It was going to be a tough discussion. "That is what I wanted to talk to you about. I think that it is better if your father and I part ways. I don't want you to be hurt by our quarrels. Better apart than always fighting. But that doesn't mean that you won't be able to see him or be with him. I will understand if you choose to stay with him. I know this is very sudden, I am so sorry," she finished in a whisper.

And yet, the children had heard her, had heard just how hurt she was, and just what a hard decision to make that was. They had both inherited her wise and caring nature, picking on their mother's feelings was rather easy.

"I'll stay with you," declared Rose. "But I don't want to go back home. I feel like it isn't ours anymore."

Hermione was perplexed. Her daughter had voiced the same thing that had plagued her mind for the entire night. "I see. Hugo, you don't have to answer. It would be irresponsible of me to burden you like this. Please, don't feel pressured. Just say whatever you feel like saying."

"I don't want to go back to that house, either. Can I stay here with Lily?"

Hermione didn't know it, but the evening Ron refused sleeping with her, Hugo had heard her cry in the eerie silence of the night. Since that day, he felt like his home wasn't the same. At that time, he didn't know what exactly had changed, but now he understood… more or less. Lily was his confident. Once he told her about that awkward feeling, she told him that no matter what, he could stay with her. And now, he wanted to do just that.

Hermione kindly smiled at her youngest. "Of course. I will talk with Ginny and we'll let you stay here with your cousin. Is that alright?"

"Yes, it is. And, I'll see dad later…" he finished a bit unsure.

"Don't worry. Your father will be happy to see you whenever you want to. But, if we don't go back to that house, perhaps you want another one? I'm sure your uncle Harry and aunt Ginny will have nothing against us staying here, but we'll need a home of our own."

"I want to live in Kensington and Chelsea, like Thea," said Rose, a bit enthused by the idea. "I remember it from our strolls through the borough's parks. Can we live there, please? And I want it to be a flat, a big one like Thea's. She showed us some photos of it and it's so nice."

"Well, it does sound lovely. But, we should ask Hugo what he wants, as well. Love, have you got any special requirements?"

"Hmm, as long as I can keep on swimming at a good club, I'm ok with anything. If I want to play Quidditch, I'll go to nana's or come here."

"There are lots of swimming clubs in that area. So it's decided!" exclaimed Rose.

'She seems to forget what even made us move, in the first place,' thought Hermione a bit troubled. 'But, perhaps it's even better this way. Perhaps, this is her way of coping. Who knows just how traumatised they had been yesterday. Merlin, how did it come to this?'

* * *

It was almost noon when Hermione left the Ministry of Magic building. She had been to the Administrative Registration Department (ARD), which was a sub-division of her own department, responsible for the registration of all wizards and witches, as well as marriages and divorces. The officer on duty that day was Anthony Rickett, an ex-Hufflepuff, one year her senior.

"Hello, Anthony," she greeted him, as she came in.

As always, he was very polite and kind-hearted. "Ah, Madam Weasley, what a pleasant surprise! How can I help you today?"

"Well, I want to file for a divorce."

The man's eyes widened. He opened his mouth to say something, but not even a sound came out.

"I'm sorry that this is so sudden and unexpected, but the thing is I want to separate from my husband."

"Bu-but, I'm sorry Madam Weasley, I don't understand. Are you sure?"

Everybody knew that the Head of DMLE had been friends with the Head Auror Potter and auror Weasley from the very beginning, and hearing that she wanted a divorce was shocking, very much so.

"Can I trust you to be discreet about this matter?"

"Of course, Madam Weasley," he replied quickly. If there was one thing he was hundred per cent good at, it was being discreet and loyal.

Once again, she smiled. "First, please call me Hermione, or if not that, then at least Madam Granger. Second, you see, Ronald, he cheated on me and it seems it has been like that for quite a lot of time."

If possible, the officer's eyes widened even more.

"And, I have children, Anthony. I'm sure you understand what that implies. I know that you have two kids of you own, and wouldn't want them hurt with fights between you and your wife. Theoretically speaking. So, this is the best course of action. I don't want to hate the person I've come to love, so getting a divorce is a rather sensible solution. Don't you agree?"

Anthony was at a loss. "I'm so sorry, Madam Weas -, I mean Madam Granger. I-I really hadn't expected that one. But yes, I do agree. Children come first. I will personally take care of everything. What kind of custody would you like?"

"Sole custody," she replied determinedly. "But Ronald should have the right to see them. My problems with him will not affect my children's relationship with their father, or at least I will try to ensure that."

"Of course. Madam Granger, I will be frank. If you talk to him, and make him see that the children staying with you is the best decision, you won't even need a hearing, at least not a formal one. It is in the children's best interests that this doesn't go to court. Otherwise the media will raise a much bigger fuss than it already will, seeing as the both of you are such popular personas. Also, things like the repartition of the goods you possess together and child support also have to be thoroughly considered. If it's an amiable divorce it won't take much time, however if it is not, I'm afraid with two children, it might stretch for as long as six months. And, believe me, you don't want that. The stress that you and your children will go through…"

He didn't continue. Hermione knew what it would be like. That is why she told him that she was going to talk to Ron, and convince that the first option was the best for everybody. Anthony promised that he would immediately start working on gathering the relevant documents, as well as contact the office responsible for children's welfare, Gringotts' administration department, and make sure that no information leaks out. The public didn't have to know about Ron's unfaithfulness, for Hermione didn't want his reputation ruined.

* * *

Ronald's morning hadn't been lovely, quite far from lovely. He had a terrible headache and his tongue felt like sand, and overall he felt dehydrated. To boot it all, it seemed that he had fallen asleep in the wrong position, for his entire body was aching and sore. As he opened his eyes, he couldn't recognise where he was at first. But, as he looked around, he realised that somehow he ended up at the Burrow. 'How the hell did I get here? The last thing I remember is George teasing Bill about Dom going to her boyfriend. Bloody hell! My head hurts just from bloody thinking!'

As he was about to close his eyes again, the room's door opened, and a pissed off-looking Molly Weasley stepped inside. "Ah, so you're awake..."

Ron was rather confused by his mother's cold tone. 'What the bloody hell?'

"Get up, Ronald. And for Godric's sake, take a shower. You stink."

The Weasley matriarch left without even closing the door after her. 'What's her problem?'

Ron shook his head, and slowly rose from his bed. His head was pounding, but he couldn't continue sleeping. His mother had called him 'Ronald' and that was a very bad sign.

When he finally entered the kitchen, he was a bit surprised to find out that it was already past noon.

"Hermione, what are we doing here?" he asked, as he started perusing the cupboards for a potion to relieve him of his headache.

After leaving the Ministry, Hermione had come to the Burrow, informed Molly of her decision, listened to the woman's sobs and pleas to give her son another chance, had been hugged close to suffocation, and once again listened to Molly's sobs and apologies – this time. Mrs Weasley had left her to talk to Ron in private; she would deal with her son afterwards.

"I don't know. You tell me," she replied.

Ron, for the second time that day, was confused by the cold tone people used when talking to him. He turned towards her. She was a bit pale and looked very tired, but otherwise she appeared alright. And yet, there was something that bothered him. Something was wrong.

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand. I asked why we came here. Why aren't we at our home? Did something happen?"

"Do we even have a home anymore?"

Ron's eyes widened. "Did something happen to it? Is it damaged?"

She looked him straight in the eyes. "Not the house, per se. But our home, definitely. How could you, Ronald? How could you?"

Again with the 'Ronald' thing. "Did I do something, yesterday, while I was drunk?"

"Well, it is not as much about what you did yesterday. It's more about what you have done for the past two years or so."

He froze and Hermione clearly noticed that. Somehow, somewhere deep in her heart, she had still held hope that his confession was just a drunk joke and not the cruel reality. But his eyes as wide as saucers were an unequivocal tell-tale.

He knew that she knew. Seeing her hurt, and yet determined expression, he lowered his head. It was over. There wasn't much left to say. He seemed to have already told her everything she needed to know. Either that, or Karin was the one to open her mouth. "I'm sorry."

Hermione felt her throat constrict, but she tried to ignore that for the time being. "When did it start? How? Why?" The last word had been a bit higher than a whisper.

'So it wasn't Karin, she would've told her everything,' he thought. 'Damn my drunken loud mouth.'

"It started in February… of 2017," he saw her squeeze her eyes, most probably trying very hard not to cry. "It ended -,"

She interrupted him. "I know when it ended. You have kindly informed everybody at the party, even our children, Ronald. Our _children_, Ronald!"

It was very seldom that his wife raised her voice. It was over. Perhaps, after some time she could have forgiven him for his infidelity, but never for hurting Rose and Hugo. It was all over.

"I'm sorry," he again lowered his head. He didn't want to see her pain, the pain _he_ had caused. "I-I…"

She didn't care that he was stammering. She wanted the truth. "I asked how and why, Ronald."

"I honestly don't know why. At some point I felt trapped. We got married so young and then we had children… and I missed the freedom," he finished.

"Trapped? Young? Ronald, _you_ proposed to me, remember? _You_ were the one who couldn't stand the fact that Harry got married before us and had a son before you!"

He stilled. She smiled, but it wasn't her usual kind and warm smile. For the first time he saw the cruel side of her. He knew she had it; she was a survivor of a horrible war after all, but he had never been on the receiving end of it.

"What? You think that I didn't realise that your inferiority complex had never completely disappeared? But I thought that sooner or later you'd realise what you've got and let go of it. Merlin, Ronald, I loved you so much. Why wasn't that enough?" she finished with a half-whispered sob. She couldn't take it anymore.

"Hermione, I -," he tried to get closer, but she stepped back.

"Ronald, don't… please, just don't. Who was she?"

"She-she was a -," he was stuttering. If she were to find out who Karin was, she would be even more hurt. But if he lied, not only would he lose his wife, but the remaining pieces of their shattered friendship as well.

"Who was she?" Hermione repeated.

"She was an 'easy' woman."

Hermione felt that something was shaking, and it took a while for her to realise that it was her own body.

"Hermione, look, I -," he didn't know what to say. The room fell silent.

When she spoke, her voice was just as broken as her heart. "Enough. I don't want to know anything else. I have already gone to the Ministry. I want a divorce and sole custody. You will be able to see Hugo and Rosie whenever you feel like it. They hadn't come, and Rose isn't likely to do so for quite some time. I tried persuading her to see you, but she doesn't want to. I'm sorry. Hugo is very confused and said that he wanted to be with Lily, at the moment. I think it's for the best that way."

Ron nodded. Sooner or later he would have had to pay for his mistakes.

"We're also moving out," she informed him.

For the first time, her soon to be ex-husband looked scared. "What? Why? I can move out if you want me to."

"Rosie said that she doesn't want to go back, and Hugo is of the same opinion. And truth be told, nothing is holding me there… only bittersweet memories."

Her words were like thousands of Crucio aimed at his heart, at the same time. 'I deserve this. I hurt them.'

"She has already found an area where she wants to live, and Hugo doesn't mind. I will start looking for a flat tomorrow, as today is still a bank holiday for muggles. Until then we will be living with Harry and Ginny."

"I understand."

She sighed and recomposed herself. She looked at him, not as his lovely wife, but Hermione Granger, a brilliant witch, with whom you don't mess around. "Good. I don't want a scandal, both because of our children and my position as the head of a Ministry department. The public will know that we have decided to separate due to irreconcilable differences, nothing more or less. I don't want your reputation to be soiled by such a thing as cheating on your wife with a prostitute. I won't do that because of the friendship we once had, because of your family whom I love very much, our children and Harry. He might want to punch you right now, but you're still his first friend, I would never do anything to hurt him.

"You'd better keep you mistress' mouth shut. If somehow the media gets word of your affair, it would hurt the kids and the family, in general. I won't let them pay for your mistakes, more than they already do. About the goods we possess at the moment. You can keep the house, but I do get the car. You will have only the money you have gained, and I will have mine. You will give the goblins the exact amount you've spent on her, so when the money are split between us, the common spending could be calculated and extracted from the total. As for the child support, that is something the judge will decide. The officer from the ARD told me that as long as the divorce is amicable, the hearing won't take long, and it will mostly be informal and behind closed doors."

Ron wanted to wince at her neutral tone, but somehow managed not do it. "Alright, I will make sure she doesn't say a word. Which officer was it? I want to know to whom exactly I should give the money report."

"Anthony Rickett."

"Ah, he was a beater for the Hufflepuff team."

"I'm glad you have such a good memory."

Hermione summoned her cloak, put it on and once again looked at the red-headed man in front of her. "I will be really grateful if you don't contact me for a week or so, I need time to think and to find a flat. If it's something important tell Ginny or Harry. When the kids will want to see you, I will inform you. I don't know whether you should write to them or not, I'll leave that to your discretion."

She was about to open the door, when she felt his hand on her wrist. "Hermione, I'm really sorry. I wish I could change it all."

"I know. I'm also sorry. Tell me, was it at least worth it?"

He let go of her wrist like he had been stung. The realisation had dawned on him. But it was too late. He felt like a lost boy in a gigantic maze. "No. It wasn't."

She left. She left from his life, and he knew he would never have her back.

* * *

The red-headed girl was sobbing on Elizabeth's shoulder. As soon as she got to the twins' residence, Rose told her friends what had happened and that she was to move out. Of course, everybody was shocked and promised to keep her parents' cause for divorce a secret, even from their own family. It wasn't until much later into the night, that Rose told the copper-haired girl just how much it hurt her, not the divorce itself, but her mother's suffering. Not even her father's betrayal was as painful.

"You know, father has always told us that things happen for a reason. I would like to believe that your mother will find somebody, who will love her even more than anybody else ever could."

"I really hope so," murmured Rose. "I'm so sorry I ruined your dressing gown."

Elizabeth smirked. "Don't worry. With a swish of mother's wand it'll look like new."

"Hey, Liz, do you think that Scorpius' mother also died because of a certain reason?"

"I don't know. I've never thought about it like that. Mr Malfoy loved her very much. We may be Slytherins and cunning, but daddy says we also can love, and our devotion lasts a life-time. At least it's true for the most of us."

"I wish there was somebody to love my mother and be devoted to her."

"I'm sure there is. They just haven't found each other yet."

For the first time that evening, Rosie smiled. It was a truly joyful smile. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Actually, I thought you'd go to Amor. But I'm really happy that you came to me instead."

"I'm happy, as well."

"But we'd better go to sleep now. The boys plan to drive daddy crazy tomorrow, so we need to be in top shape."

The girls chuckled and having whished each other sweet dreams, cuddled under Lizzy's king-sized duvet and fell asleep.

The next day would bring a new beginning, new rays of sun, new hopes and new beautiful memories.

* * *

**Explanation of some things that might be confusing:**

**1**. Some might have forgotten, but Andromeda Tonks nee Black was actually a Slytherin.

**2**. In my story, Hermione, as written above, is very close to Andromeda and her grandson, Teddy. He even sees her as a godmother.

**3**. In my story, Hugo is professionally swimming, and even belongs to a swimming club in Richmond. However, with them moving out, he'll attend one of the numerous clubs in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (Central London, zone 1).

**4**. The Administrative Registration Department is a canon sub-division of DMLE. The only thing I have added, but it also might be valid for the actual HP-universe, is that not only is it responsible for the registration of all wizards and witches, but also marriages and divorces (which in the Wizarding World happen very seldom and usually cause uproar).

**5**. Anthony Rickett actually exists in the HP-universe. As mentioned in this chapter, he was older than Hermione and co. by a year, and was a beater for the Hufflepuff team during Cedric Digory's captainship. But, in the canon version there is no information about him working in ARD.

**A quick poll for entertainment purposes:**

_Which one of the following 'causing/seeking trouble groups' is your favourite? _

A) The Marauders (J. Potter I, S. Black, J. Lupin, P. Pettigrew)  
B) Gred and Forge (F. Weasley I, G. Weasley)  
C) The Golden Trio (H. Potter, H. Granger, R. Weasley) – consciously or not, they did cause a lot of trouble  
D) The [OC] Troublesome Trio (F. Weasley II, J. Potter II, P. Jordan)  
E) Other. Let me know!

**My own answer to the previous poll: **As all OCs are mine, I can't decide which one is my favourite. I don't want to be biased. ^_^

Please review!


	22. Of moving on and healing

**Author's Notes:  
**  
Here is the 21st chapter. I'm sorry for the slow update, but the thing is I've started working, and I haven't got that much time to either write new chapters or post those I've already written. Most likely it's going to be a new chapter per week. I sincerely apologise.

Thank you very much for your support and reviews!

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no profit from this work of art. However, I do own the plot and some OCs. The image belongs to **charmontez**.

* * *

**Chapter 21. Of moving on and healing**

12 Grimmauld Place was quiet, and the peaceful atmosphere could be sensed throughout its entirety. The day before, Lys and Lor's birthday had been held, and most children and their parents had attended the celebration. Ron hadn't been there. Actually nobody from the Weasley family had seen him after either Christmas or Boxing Day. Hermione initially thought that he had left England for a while, however Anthony had informed her of Ronald's almost daily visits at the ARD.

'Perhaps he just wants to be alone and reflect on his further actions…'

She was, at the moment, drinking some Oolong Tea brought from Japan by some ex-colleagues of Ginny's, who respected her very much. It was a very calming drought, somehow chasing all of her worries away.

Somebody could be heard going down the staircase leading to the kitchen. Ginny, still in her very alluring nightgown, approached her sister-in-law. "Hermione, why are you here at 6 am? Have you got problems with sleeping?"

"No, I haven't. I just woke up because I wanted to go to the bathroom, and when I went back to my room, I realised I didn't want to sleep anymore. So I took some of that marvellous tea, your old teammates from Holyhead Harpies gave you. I hope you don't mind."

"Oh, don't worry about that. You can have as much as you want. The kids and Harry don't like green tea with rice milk, anyway. And I wouldn't want the leaves to be wasted."

Hermione smiled. "And why aren't you sleeping?"

"Harry was turning right and left too much for my liking, and I kind of woke up and couldn't go back to sleep either. I think it's time we changed our bed, or at least the mattress."

Hermione softly laughed. "At least he's not snoring… Ginny, I've found a flat."

Her voice abruptly turning from amused to serious startled the red-head, but she knew what finding a flat meant. That was it. Ron and Hermione would definitely separate. Saddened, the mother of three looked down. "Why haven't you told us yesterday?"

"I just got the response via owl from my assistant."

"I see. So, where is it?"

"It's in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Flat 5, Moreton Mansions, Old Brampton Road. It's a big, spacious flat, with two floors. My assistant has already connected it to the Floo Network. To activate it, you'd need to say: 5 Moreton Mansions."

Ginny nodded. "Well, it sounds lovely."

"It is lovely. There are parks nearby, and also a swimming club for Hugo and an enormous book shop for Rosie and me. It's in Central London, so even walking to Diagon Alley or the Ministry would be possible."

"When are you moving in?"

"Today."

Ginny turned her head towards Hermione so fast, she thought she would strain a muscle. "So soon?"

"Yes. The kids have already chosen the furniture they wanted from a catalogue, I ordered it and it should be delivered to our flat in about three hours. I hired a German designer, who is also a witch, and she's going to make the flat look exactly the way we want it to."

The red-head was perplexed. "Wow. When did you have the time to do all of this?"

"Well, fortunately I haven't had much work this past week, and Harry completely overtook the Gosberg case, so I didn't have to worry about that. My assistant has also been very helpful."

"I see. Then at least, let the kids and me come and help you or something."

Hermione gently touched the other woman's hand. "Of course, Ginny. I couldn't have got this far without your support. I'm very grateful."

* * *

It was 5 January, a Saturday, and all the children were going back to school. The platform 9 ¾ was as always crowded and noisy. But even among all the wizards and witches, the Weasley/Potter clan could be clearly distinguished. That was due to the most of them sporting red hair and, as of late, lots of reporters trailing after them.

Just one day after Hermione and her children had moved in to their new house, the news about her and Ron's divorce was made known to the entire Wizarding folk. There had been no leak of information, just the finalisation of their separation put down into the record book. As the latter could be accessed by the public, the journalists have found out about it rather easily, and boy, were they shocked. The divorce of two members of the Golden Trio boosted the sales of all the newspapers read by wizards. Nobody understood what had happened, however everybody discussed it.

The family had received notes, letters, floo-calls, even patronuses from lots and lots of people, whom they didn't even know. Of course, all of Hermione's close friends had been told about the divorce the day she made the decision to leave Ron, and most of them were also told about the true reason behind it. Her colleagues – other heads of departments and the Minister, had also been notified beforehand about the change in her last name, but everybody else had been kept in the dark.

Hermione was making her way through the throng of people surrounding her and her children, and she silently cursed all the journalists in the world for disturbing her family and dear ones so much.

"Mrs Weasley, what is the reason behind your divorce?"

"Are you even a Mrs now, or a Weasley for that matter?"

"Has he been unfaithful? Or have _you_ been unfaithful?"

Hermione was half-determined to turn around and slap that intrusive journalist. 'The cheek!'

Harry, who had taken the role of her personal bodyguard, had no problems with his determination. He approached the man, and as he was speaking, poked him with his finger. "Do you know who I am?"

The man meekly nodded.

"Good. Now listen here, pathetic excuse of a newsman! If you ever again insult my best friend, who by the way is the Head of DMLE, I'll personally make sure that you're imprisoned for defamation, and that your writing license is retrieved. Understood?"

The man once again nodded. And Harry looked at the other reporters. His voice was smooth, and though rather low, everybody could hear it. "I'm giving you five seconds to disappear from here, before I arrest you."

The correspondents' eyes widened and some seemed about to leave, when a more brave one, or stupid (it matters on how one sees it), came forward. "You can't arrest us. We are journalists and have the right to be wherever we want, and report any event we and the public are interested in."

Harry smirked. "Oh, really? Well, I could arrest you for causing disturbance in a public place. In that case, your status as a reporter is worthless." The man wanted to retort, but Harry continued talking. "Bill, as a part of the public, are you disturbed by these men's presence?"

Bill smirked himself. "Oh, yes, I am. Greatly, may I add. I even think about communicating this to the DMLE."

Harry looked menacingly at the man, raising an eyebrow. "I repeat, you've got 5 seconds before I arrest you."

The journalists left at once. Hermione nodded towards her friend in gratitude and continued walking.

"Dad, that was so cool," said Al, as he approached his father.

Harry looked at his boy, smiling. "Thanks, kid. Now, let's get your trunk on that train."

"I also want to go to Hogwarts…" whined Lily somewhere behind them.

* * *

"So is it better now?" asked Scorpius.

The children were currently eating some sweets bought from the trolley, and in another hour or so, they would reach Hogsmeade station. Nobody had asked Rosie about her parents until then, however the blonde thought that it was better to approach the subject while they still had some sort of privacy. At school, anybody could overhear.

Rose shrugged. "I think it is. I mean, I haven't seen dad since Christmas, and actually that's good, I'm still a bit pissed off. Mum is alright. I don't know what uncle Harry had told her, but she seemed to be in high spirits. She was a bit tired with both working and finding another place, however we had lots of fun with moving into our new flat. It's got French doors, so beautiful!"

Near her, Amor smiled. "That's good. I hope everything will be alright."

The red-head smiled in return. "Yeah, I hope so as well. Hugo was behaving a bit strange at first, but now he seems to accept the situation. Oh, Thea, since we're living so close, we'll be able to see each other more often during holidays."

Thea looked at Rose, and her twinkling eyes seemed to radiate warmth. "Of course. That sounds lovely. Perhaps we could even have a slumber party." The boys started cheering, but stopped when she continued, "just for us, girls."

"That's not fair!" exclaimed Ambrose.

Al was also a bit saddened that they couldn't all be together, but he understood the girls. A bit. "Well, then we can have our own party for boys."

Scorpius clapped his best friend on his back. "Good idea. I think it's my turn to hold one."

Now, it was the girls' turn to be upset.

"But, I also want to go to the manor for a night-over," whined Lizzy.

"Yes, yes! I agree," Sierra added.

Amor was even more enthusiastic, waving her hands in all the directions, trying to explain the unfairness of the situation. "You can't do that to us! Your home, Scorp, is very spacious, and you've got a Quidditch pitch, as well."

"You wanted a party only for girls, first!" her brother retaliated.

Tristan wanted to slap himself on the face. Why couldn't his friends be quieter? 'I'm trying to sleep for Merlin's sake! So troublesome…'

And so it continued – their journey full of exclamations and loud statements.

* * *

It was a cold evening of late January. The busy streets of London were overflowing with life and people returning home from a very long and strenuous day of work. As it was Friday, there were also couples going on a date, or people shopping in the specialised areas of Central London. Hermione Granger, on the other hand, was still in her office, going through documents from different sub-divisions, while drinking some tea. She was a bit startled when somebody knocked on her door.

"Come in," she said, shifting her gaze from her papers to her visitor. She was surprised, but pleasantly so, to see Draco Malfoy wearing special robes for Senior Unspeakables, entering and closing the door after him.

"Granger," he saluted her with a slight lowering of his head.

"Hello, Draco. Did you want something?"

Draco looked at her, then at the chair in front of her desk and raised an eyebrow. "Won't you invite me to sit down? Manners, manners, Granger."

Hermione flushed and quickly asked him to have a seat. Draco smirked, but didn't say anything else as he sat down.

"So what did you want?"

"So eager to be rid of me, are we, Granger?"

Hermione's blush had yet to fade. "No, not at all. It's just that I thought that you had some urgent matters to discuss."

Draco still smirking shook his head. "Don't worry. I was just teasing you. Actually, I came to inform you that I have discovered how the Gosberg's spell works."

Hermione stared wide-eyed at the blonde, as he retrieved some papers out of his robes and handed them to her. The parchment was full of complex theories, symbols, charts and calculations. She quickly perused them, enthralled by his discovery.

"As you will see, this is a blend of three different enchantments: Cruciatus, Blasting and Reductor curses. He took the theory behind the last two, and implemented them in the practical use of the first one. He also needed a lot of anatomy knowledge to complete it. Really nasty that one. No wonder, there was little the CEC could do."

The woman's face reflected her horror and disgust. "So that is why, the victim's pain is not only psychological, but physical, as well. Merlin, this curse actually destroys the living cells of one's body. It's very likely that there is no way to counteract it."

"I'm afraid you're right."

She dropped her head on her hands. She had no idea what to do now that they knew just how irreversibly damaging Gosberg's creation was. How could she consciously send aurors and Hit Wizards after him, knowing that there was no way to protect oneself from the spell, but dodge it?

Draco could openly see the woman's despair. He wasn't the most empathetic person, and was of no good when it came to distressed women, but he couldn't really leave her like that. He gently covered her hand with his own, and squeezed it a bit.

"Granger."

She didn't answer, so he tried again. "Granger. Look, I know that these aren't the news you had expected, but it's not like it's your fault Gosberg created it."

She looked upwards, her eyes very tired. "You don't understand. So many could die, if they were to openly engage him in a duel."

Draco shook his head. "Granger, listen to me. I wasn't finished. If you check the last fragment of my research, you will see that in order to cast this spell, he needs time, lots of stamina and mental preparation. Just like Cruciatus requires the caster to really hate the opponent and wish him harm, this curse has also got special requirements. I'm sure Potter can devise a good enough plan to disarm Gosberg. That's his specialty, is it not?"

His teasing remark, at the end of his speech, made Hermione smile. "Yes, it is. I'm sorry to trouble you with my problems and frustrations."

"Don't worry, Granger. This is not the first time, and I'm sure that neither is it the last one."

Hermione's smile stretched even more. "Who would have thought that Draco Malfoy would be the one to reassure _me_, Hermione Granger, in the combat skills of Harry Potter? That's unheard of."

Her amusement made him smirk and he let go of her hand. Though neither of them said it aloud, they had felt like something was missing, like there was less warmth than there had been before. Draco looked at her hand again. As the silence enveloped the both of them, her stomach made out some strange noises. She seemed to be starving.

"Hey, as far as I know, the working hours have long since finished. I haven't eaten at all today, with the exception of some tea at breakfast, so how about we grab a bite somewhere? I'm famished, and by the looks of it, so are you."

Hermione had been a bit astonished by his suggestion, but quickly smiled and nodded. "Alright, just let me put all my documents back in the drawer."

Some 15 minutes later, the Head of DMLE and the Senior Unspeakable Malfoy apparated outside a posh restaurant, designated for magical folk.

* * *

The following Monday, Harry and Draco, accompanied by other 20 representatives from DMLE, were in a hotel in Aberdeen preparing everything for the capture of a certain Gosberg.

"Can you explain to me, _again_, why _I_ am here?" Draco asked the green-eyed man, as he finished instructing his subordinates.

"I told you, you will help us estimate just how much time Gosberg needs before using his course. We will be occupied with something else."

The blonde sighed. "Why did I get involved in this, in the first place?"

Harry chuckled, but didn't reply.

"Granger had better give me a premium for this."

Harry laughed even louder. "Well, you might deserve it. You helped us quite a lot."

Draco scoffed, showing off his arrogant side once more. "Of course, I did. I am a professional after all, not some stuttering gibberish rookie."

"Right. And about Hermione. I heard that you two had dinner together. What was that about?" Harry raised an eyebrow, waiting for a reply.

Malfoy, however, didn't feel like explaining himself, and to the 'Man who was born to piss him off', no less. "That's what it was – dinner. You should have asked her, when she told you about it."

"Actually, she wasn't the one to tell me about it. It was a colleague."

"Well, then you should have asked that gossip-loving 'colleague' of yours. Now, let's finish this case once and for all. I'm fed up with running after this Gosberg. I have much more important things to do unlike you gossip-'ladies', thank you very much."

Harry knew that the ex-Slytherin changed the subject on purpose, but chose to let it go for the mean time. He could always ask Hermione about her relationship with Draco, just like the latter suggested.

"Group 1 and 2, prepare. In less than a minute, your part of the operation starts."

* * *

The Zabini twin's birthday was once again to be held during a learning week, so the children had to celebrate it without much fuss or pompousness. Knowing the personalities of the now 12 year old siblings, that was a problem. Amor wanted a 'fairy tale'-like party, surrounded by snow and Unicorns, whereas Ambrose wanted delicious food and perhaps even an impromptu Quidditch match between his friends and some other second years. Overall, their expectations were rather clashing, and could hardly be joined together.

"I say we have a picnic outside, somewhere near to the Quidditch pitch. There will be no Unicorns, but at least lots of snow," said Rose, during a brainstorming session amongst their group.

"Rosie, as good as it sounds, getting the permission from Madam Hootch to use the pitch in less than 24 hours is impossible," mumbled Al.

Sierra groaned. "Why couldn't they have told us their highness' wishes sooner, not one day before?"

Scorpius raised his perfectly shaped blonde eyebrow. "You know them even better than we do, why are you even asking?"

Beside him, Liz furiously nodded. "I agree. I would expect something like this from Am any day, but even Amor… Oh mighty Salazar! Where could we even find Unicorns? And I'm definitely not going into the forest."

"Quit whining, Tony. Had it been you, you would've asked not only for Unicorns, but for Merpeople musical accompaniment, as well. So troublesome…"

"Tristan, stop calling me Tony! And we'd have to be underwater to be able to properly hear Merpeople's singing. I wouldn't want to spend my birthday in that freezing lake."

"Thank Merlin, for such small mercies," mumbled her brother.

Liz was about to retort again, when Rose, fed up with their bickering, cut in. "Well, Quidditch is a no, then, just like Unicorns. I say we ask professor Longbottom, whether we could use the Greenhouse No. 7."

"Why that one?" asked Sierra.

"Because it's the only one arranged like a botanical garden, which means lots of beautiful, not dangerous, plants, walls and ceiling made out of glass, enough space for us to have a picnic and also warmth and shelter from the raging snow storm."

Scorp smirked. "You really are thorough in your research and knowledge of the castle."

"Of course, I am. Now who is going with me to ask the professor?"

Tristan at once informed them that he had some important business to take care of and left the library, Liz said that she and Al had to go to their Head of the house, for he had asked them to come by, and Sierra apparently had to finish her Transfiguration essay due the next day.

It seemed that nobody was very keen on going outside, and spend precious minutes in the numbing cold. The Slytherins were especially reluctant, for they had already had Double Herbology that day, and had experienced just how awful getting to and from the greenhouse was like.

As Scorpius was about to announce that he also had an essay to finish, Rose spoke first. "I don't care if the Minister for Magic himself is waiting for you, Scorp. You are going with me!"

The boy sighed. "When have you become so pushy?"

The red-head glared at him. "I can't believe you! And I can't believe their nerve! They just left, and let me inform you, that Amor and Am are our common friends…"

Scorp tuned her out. He could already imagine the headache he'd receive, were he to listen to her angry tirade.

* * *

Though it had been brain-freezing the walk to the greenhouses, and back to the castle, the two friends now had the permission to celebrate the spoilt twin's birthday in the magnificent greenhouse.

"All we have to do now is go to the kitchens and kindly ask the Elves to prepare some food for the picnic. Hopefully, they will agree."

"Rose, of course they will agree. They're House Elves, for Salazar's sake. They live and breathe for this purpose."

"You can't say that, Scorp. They're also living beings, and they also need free time to relax and whatever else they do."

"Believe me, they can't live without knowing that they're needed. That's how they all think. And I know that it's required that they're paid and everything, but some of them don't even want that. Our Letti keeps whining that she feels ill at ease with us paying her so much."

"Well, you might be right that they aren't really comfortable with it, but I've heard so many cases when poor Elves were exploited and treated like dirt, and my mum had fought so hard for their freedom and rights. It's better this way."

Scorp shrugged. "I guess you're right. And by the way, how is your mother? I've seen some really insulting articles in the newspapers."

Rosie's demeanour changed from 'ready to defend the poor Elves with all her might' to saddened and uncharacteristically timid. "She wrote to me that she was alright. Mum is strong, I know that. And yet, I worry about her. She's all alone, now."

"Alone? Isn't Hugo with her?"

"No. He's still spending most of his time with Lily. He's been always spending time with her, but at least from time to time she would stay at our home, as well. But now, mum is always working, and he doesn't really want to come home on weekends. She must be so lonely."

Scorp hadn't said anything. His father himself was all alone at home. He was so emerged in his thoughts that, when Rose asked him something, he got startled.

"Pardon my lack of attention. What did you ask me?"

"How do you do it? How do you go from knowing that your family is alright to knowing that your parents will never be together again? I'm aware that our situations aren't exactly the same, and yet in some ways they're similar."

Scorpius looked down the rather empty corridors without actually seeing anything. His expression turned brooding, as the pain of losing his mother awoke in his heart.

Rose saw the change and wanted to slap herself. How could she have been so insensitive?

"I'm so sorry, Scorp! Your situation is so much more complicated and tragic than mine is. I'm very sorry."

"No, it's alright. It's good to talk about it sometimes. I used to discuss this with grandfather and Al. Perhaps talking about it will help you, and I hope I can relieve your troubled mind."

The girl slightly nodded.

"Well, the circumstances in which our respective parents separated _are_ different. I know father must have blamed himself for what happened to mother, but sometimes I feel like he can't forgive her for lying to him. I think here, your mother and my father are in the same situation. I don't know how to get through the transition you mentioned, I guess it just happens. Grandmother once said something like 'time heals everything', I guess that's the answer."

"I know that I have to be patient, but mum is still hurting and lonely."

"Well, she's not completely alone. Your uncle – Al's father is always with her at work. I'm sure he's taking care of her."

Rosie smiled. "Yes, he's rather fond and protective of mum. He's always been like that. Actually, the entire family is."

Scorp smirked, and yet his expression was far from teasing, more like wishful. "I'll tell you a secret. One that only Al knows and, now, you will. Sometimes I wish that I had such a family like yours. Your mother has got a best friend and lots of sisters- and brothers-in-law, whereas my father has got neither. There is aunt Daphne, but she isn't that well herself, and father isn't comfortable with sharing his burdens. I don't think he'd share them even with me."

Suddenly Rosie stopped walking, and the boy unconsciously did the same. "What is it, Rose?"

Without any warning, the read-haired girl came closer and hugged him. While holding him, she whispered, "I'm so sorry, Scorp. I'm sure that it will be alright. As your grandmother said, time will heal everything. And you'll spend Christmas with us, just like you did last time, and I'll ask nana to let you stay at the Burrow during our holidays. You aren't alone. You've got us. And your dad seems to be on good terms with mum and uncle Harry. He won't be alone either. I promise."

Drawn to her warmth and gratified by her kind words, he hugged her, as well. "Thank you."

* * *

Some hundreds of miles to the south-east from their children, Draco and Hermione were having a similar conversation themselves, though much more serious and adult-like.

"I suggest you sue them for defamation," said the blonde. "They have got no right to make such circus out of your divorce. I really don't understand why you won't say the truth. The Weasel had the nerve to cheat on you, so he should face the music."

"Draco, you don't understand. He's the father of my children, he's been my husband and my best friend for a very long time. I can't do that to him."

The man shook his head in annoyance. "Oh, you bleeding hearts – Gryffindors. Why can't you do something for your own good once in a while?"

"Because if nothing else, he's Harry's friend and a part of my family. I don't want to hurt them. Can you imagine the shame they would feel, if the public were to know the truth? They are ashamed of Ronald as it is, I don't want to make it worse."

He sighed and lifted his hands in mock-surrender. "All right, all right. In this case, yes, your family is more important. And yet, he's been left off the hook much too easily."

"Nobody talks to him. I think that's enough, though I don't want him estranged from his own kin because of our problems."

Draco smirked, his expression changing to one of pure disbelief. "I can't believe you! Really, I can't. That piece of nothing humiliated you in front of everybody – your parents, sisters, brothers, children, nephews and nieces, even _me_! Granger, for Salazar's sake, wake up! You don't owe him anything. Had I been you, I would've made him pay."

Hermione sadly smiled. "Yes, you would. But, I'm not like you. Sometimes I feel like I don't have the strength to leave my own bed. Fighting Ronald would be way too much for me. Draco, how do you do it? I can't take the loneliness anymore. It's disheartening!"

His smirk disappeared and, though he tried hiding it, she still caught a glimpse of his own grief. "I know. It is hard, but there's no other choice but go on. You're Hermione Granger, witch extraordinaire, you will manage. For you own and your children's sake, you have to."

Hermione's smile widened a bit and she took Draco's hand in her own, across the bureau. She gently squeezed it. "Thank you."

Then, she let go of him and after readjusting the parchment in front of her, once again looked at him. "Now, let's continue writing this report. So how much time did it take Gosberg to prepare before casting the spell?"

* * *

**Explanation of some things that might be confusing:**

**1**. ARD stands for Administrative Registration Department (DMLE); CEC stands for Committee of Experimental Charms.

**2**. Aberdeen is a beautiful city in the North-East of Scotland. It's also called the _Grey/Granite City _and the _Silver City with Golden Sands_, being the third most populous city in Scotland.

**3**. The Greenhouse Rose mentioned is something I invented, I've no idea whether it exists in the canon version.

**A quick poll for entertainment purposes: **

_Which one of the following DADA professors is your favourite? _

A) Remus Lupin  
B) Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody - the impostor  
C) Severus Snape  
D) Dolores 'Toad-Like' Umbridge (*TSG is laughing*)  
E) Other. Let me know!

**My own answer to the previous poll: **My favourite 'causing/seeking trouble group' would have to be The Marauders, though 'Gred and Forge' is a very close second.

Please review!


	23. Of the future and first times

**Author's Notes:  
**  
Well, here is another chapter.

I'm very grateful to you for your constant support and reviews!

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no profit from this work of art. However, I do own the plot and some OCs. The image belongs to **charmontez**.

* * *

**Chapter 22. Of the future and first times**

Early February had brought the first snowflakes in London. The sun wasn't as warming, the winds were even stronger, and a certain bespectacled green-eyed man cast another warming spell using wandless and non-verbal magic. He looked again at the entrance of the pub, made sure he was in the right place, and in he went.

The interior of the establishment made its customers feel comfortable and at ease, and Harry quickly took a liking to it. He scanned the crowd, and in the far corner, opposite from him, seated was one Ronald Weasley. Harry hadn't seen his friend for about a week. The red-head had been followed everywhere by journalists, and in an attempt to gain some peace, he had taken some time off from work. They hadn't talked as friends for more than a month. Their conversations had been strictly related to their job.

As Harry approached Ron's table, he took in the latter's appearance, and he was saddened to see that his first friend had lost weight. He was certain that it wasn't from lack of food, for Molly made sure to feed him daily, but from stress and possibly depression. For the first time since the divorce, Harry truly pitied the red-head. Silently, he sat opposite Ron.

The silence seemed to stretch for hours, but it was broken by the arrival of a waiter. Harry ordered some wine and snacks, whereas his friend just asked for some tea and a pastry. It seemed that he wanted to stay away from any alcohol as far as possible, especially after the accident on Christmas.

Harry sighed. It seemed that he would have to start that conversation. However, he had been pleasantly surprised when Ron was the one to address him first.

"How are you?"

"How am I?" asked the bespectacled man incredulous. "I'm alright. The question here is how _you_ are."

"I think you can see for yourself how I am." Ron's words didn't hold any malice, but pure resignation.

"I would ask what you had been thinking, but it is crystal clear that you hadn't been thinking at all. Though it is not my place to forgive you for cheating on Hermione, I really would love to give you a peace of my mind."

Ron lowered his head, preparing for a very long and angry tirade from his best friend. He waited and waited, but it didn't come. He looked up again and saw the pitying look Harry gave him, and somehow that felt even worse.

"Hermione will get better. In fact, she's already getting better. Though not as much due to my help, but that of Draco."

Ron felt like stabbing something, or rather somebody. "Malfoy? Why the bloody hell would _he_ be helping her? Why would he even be around her?"

Harry looked thoughtfully at his friend for a long moment, before replying. "Draco has changed, you know? Besides, their situation is a bit similar. The both of them have no spouses any longer."

"Oh, so he's consoling her or something, now?"

"You do realise you've got no right to be jealous of her. She's a divorced woman, a very beautiful and charming one, and sooner or later someone would've noticed that. But, as far as I know, it is not that kind of comforting each other. As long as he makes her forget her burdens and problems, I'm content with this friendship of theirs. I have worked quite a lot for the past six months with him, I would know what kind of person he has become."

Ron looked exasperated. "But, it's Malfoy!"

"So? It might sound cruel, but Malfoy came out as a much better husband than you. He loved his wife, I have never even heard of him cheating on Astoria, and when she died he was truly stricken with grief. You, on the other hand, had slept with a prostitute for a bit less than two years. And don't make that surprised face. Hermione has told me everything. I'm her best friend, after all.

"I'm also your best friend, and that is why I want you to move on. Spend time with your children, give them even more attention than before, keep on working, apologise to your family and start your personal life from a blank page."

Harry's words seemed to have struck very deep, for the red-head hadn't said anything and was processing everything his friend had told him. Again, the silence had been disturbed by the waiter coming back with their order. After Potter Sr. thanked him, the two best mates started eating.

Once Ron was done with his pastry, he spoke. "I've already sent Rose two letters. She hadn't replied to either. And Hugo's replies are rather short and vague. It seems that he doesn't want to see me. Do you know how they are doing? "

Harry put down his glass of wine, his expression turned sombre. "Hugo is still living with us. From time to time he'd go home for a couple of hours, but hasn't slept at their flat yet. Hermione is worried, but she doesn't want to rush him. Lily is only happy to oblige him. They're playing and attend their study sessions and his swimming lessons together. It's very hard to separate them.

"As for Rose... Well, she's writing to Hermione twice a week, and as always tells her everything. Unfortunately, I do not know what the letters contain. But, I do know that she's alright, studying very hard as always, doesn't cause any trouble and is spending lots of time with her friends. Al always writes about her welfare. He knows that Rosie isn't replying to your notes and that you still won't talk to Hermione, so through me he's giving you the information."

Ron chuckled, but it held no humour. "Your kid is really smart. More like cunningly smart. No wonder he's in Slytherin."

"Yes. Ginny and I did a great job of raising him."

The other man absent-mindedly nodded.

"You know, Ron, I always thought that you loved Hermione above all and everything, and yet you let some 'easy' woman lure you in her bed, just by opening her legs. This is not something I would've expected from you. Anyone but you."

"I know. That perhaps was the biggest mistake I've ever committed…"

"And I hope that you'll have learned from it not to repeat this failure in the future. You're my best friend, and I want you to find your happiness. But, it is your responsibility not to throw it away like you've done it now."

"I know."

Harry thought that they had exhausted the subject, so it was better to discuss other topics. "When are you coming back to work?"

"In about a week. These stupid reporters won't leave me alone. Are they still following her?"

"No, they aren't. She's the Head of DMLE and I've thoroughly threatened them to stay away from her."

The red-head sadly smiled. "Thanks. It was my fault, she doesn't deserve that treatment."

Harry responded with a smile of his own. "I'm glad you realise that. But, she's like a sister to me. I think it was my responsibility to take care of those gossip-seekers."

As silence once more enveloped the men, Harry looked at his watch. It was the same watch his mother-in-law had given him for his 17th birthday.

"Well, I have to go back to the Headquarters. I hope to see you soon. Send my regards to Molly and Arthur."

He rose from his seat, put enough money on the table, including the waiter's tip, and shook Ron's hand.

"Yeah, see you."

"Take care, Ron."

* * *

On a weekend in Mid-February, all the Weasleys and Potters, plus their friends and relatives, had a kind of get together in the Great Hall. A fourth of the Gryffindor table had been occupied by various representatives from all the houses. As Dominique was the oldest, she called dibs on the table. Most of the Hogwarts inhabitants had no idea what was happening, but the group certainly seemed to have a lot of fun.

As they were very loud, Dom had to induce her voice magically. "STOP TALKING!"

The bunch momentarily quietened down.

She looked at them warningly. "Good. Now, let's try this again. As I was saying, we have to somehow

gather during summer holidays in _one_ big enough place, where we could also play Quidditch, talk, get to know each other better, and yes, Molly, I know what you want to add – study. Are there any _reasonable_ suggestions? And James, don't you dare say your home, again."

James huffed. "But, it -,"

"James, don't even go there. Mum and dad would never allow it," Al interrupted his elder brother. "And it is really not _that _big. There are at least 40 of us, not to mention that there are other siblings and friends that don't attend Hogwarts yet."

"I agree with the kid," said Karsten, beside his girlfriend. "There are too many of us. And Vic would kill us, if we don't invite her as well."

Dom seemed to forget about everything except her oh, so considerate boyfriend. She eagerly kissed him, which made several of the attending disgusted.

Louis seemed the most appalled of them all. "Stop sucking face with my sister, Wood. It's making me sick."

After they finished snogging, a very satisfied Karsten smirked at the blonde. "Mind how you're talking to your captain, Lou, or I'll make you run around the pitch for the entire day, tomorrow."

The threatened boy gulped and said nothing else, however his sour look hadn't disappeared.

Dom, on the other hand, grinned. "Well, so how about those suggestions? I say we start with each of you, from the youngest."

Lucy and Roxy looked at each other, shrugged, and then turned towards the rest of bunch. "The Burrow?"

Most of the Weasley nodded, Dom, however, shook her head. "Sorry guys, but it's not that big. Nana would be very happy to feed us all, but there are too many of us. And on the same note, let's cross off Shell Cottage, uncle George and Percy's home, Rosie's flat, both Karsten and Edeline's houses. Not to forget, Lys and Lor's home, as well as the Notts'. From what I gathered, it's a penthouse, is it not?"

The Nott twins nodded.

Opposite Lizzy, Amor raised her hand. "Our house also won't be big enough. And we've got a baby-sister, to boot."

Dom sighed. "I see. Well, what about you? Sierra, is it?"

The girl apologetically smiled. "We live in the same neighbourhood that Amor and Am, so mine also won't be good."

"Just like Rose, I live in a flat," added Thea.

Alice Longbottom, just like Amorette, raised her hand, so she could speak. "There would be enough space at the Leaky Cauldron for everything else but Quidditch. But if it's summer, the rooms might not be available either. Great-grandmother Augustina's manor would be good, but she won't let us, that is for sure."

"Hey, how about great-aunt Muriel's home?" asked Fred.

Near him, Molly rolled her eyes. "You must be touched in the head, if you think that nana would let us disturb a very ill great-aunt Muriel. She's on the brink of death, genius."

"So? She might actually die before summer, and then we wouldn't disturb anybody."

The entire Hall had been startled by a collective and angry shout, 'Fred!', which was followed by a slap, presumably on this Fred's back of the head.

"How can you be so insensitive?" cried Rose, as she tried to reach him to deliver a slap herself. Fortunately for him, the boy was too far from her.

As everybody still chided the poor fellow, Scorp tried to muster enough courage to utter his proposal. "Uh, people?"

Though most of them hadn't heard him, Dom and Al had, so they made everybody quiet down.

The green-eyed boy encouraged his best friend to talk. "Have you got a suggestion?"

"Well, I was thinking that there's no better and larger house than mine. Malfoy Manor is big enough for a hundred of people, not only 40."

The others perked at the boy's suggestion, Karsten, however, had other thoughts. "Yes, it could accommodate us all. But, kid, would you receive permission for something like this?"

"Scorpius, I agree. You father might let us, but what about your grandparents? We wouldn't want to impose on their peace," added Dominique.

The blonde boy shrugged. "Father definitely would let us, and my grandparents shouldn't have a problem with it. Not to mention that they're often going to Switzerland."

"Well, I say this opportunity is too good to let it pass. So how about Scorp, you ask them if they let you have us at Malfoy Manor? We planned on going to your place for a slumber party, anyway," suggested Al.

"No problem. I'll write to him right away and ask about it."

Dom smiled. "Alright, fellows, we have decided. If and when we get permission to hold this whatever it is at Scorpius' house, we will have to ask our parents if they let us attend it. I will talk to some of your parents, as well. We will need some kind of supervision, for Mr Malfoy alone won't be enough. I've already got some ideas about who could supervise us, but if you have got any suggestions, you're welcome to share them with me. However, take into consideration that your parents have to have time off work, otherwise they wouldn't able to attend the gathering. This meeting ends here. Everybody is dismissed."

* * *

Draco Malfoy had been quite shocked after reading his son's letter. He could already feel a headache coming. But, seeing that his kid was interacting with so many other children, he knew he wouldn't be able to refuse. Scorpius had always been a bit of a loner, and both Draco and his parents didn't have the heart to deny him his happiness.

Two days after he sent Scorpius their approval, they had received another letter, this time from Dominique Weasley. The girl surely knew how to write and be polite, and she seemed to be charming even in her writing. She thoroughly enumerated and explained all the activities to be held during their 'party', as well as how many days it would take and that other parents would also assist with both supervising, cooking and money. She also added that she and her elder sister, Victoire (who the Malfoys knew was Teddy's girlfriend, almost fiancé), would find the parents to attend their party and those who would cook. They would help with organising the event and everybody's journey to and from the Manor, contact all the parents, manage the little ones and lots of other things.

Lucius had been rather impressed by the girl's administrative skills. "Is she a Prefect?"

Narcissa nodded. "I heard from Andromeda, that she is, just like Victoire had been. The eldest was even a Head Girl. She's now attending Healer Training. Very capable, the both of them. And the youngest is also talented."

Lucius looked thoughtful. "I wonder what this Dominique plans after Hogwarts. I would need somebody like her for the company."

Both Draco and Narcissa almost had their jaws drop to the marble floor of the Manor. Had Lucius Malfoy just complimented a Weasley and even considered hiring her?

Draco re-collected himself much faster. "Well, she says she'd pay us a visit during Easter holidays, and then you'll have the opportunity to ask her."

"Oh, yes. I definitely will."

* * *

About a month after their first evening outing, Hermione and Draco once again found themselves in her office on a cold and rainy Friday evening. Somehow, they had kept bumping into each other during lunch or after their working hours and they would go somewhere to eat. This time however, things were a bit different. Draco actually came to her, asking if she wanted to have yet another dinner in his company.

The woman had no idea where this all was going, but she felt content in his presence, and his teasing always made her smile. They even heartily joked and laughed about the upcoming very big party to be held during summer at the Manor. At the end of their meetings, she'd always be in high spirits and all her worries would disappear, as though under an incantation. There hadn't been any improper remarks or actions from the both of them, however slowly, but surely, the existing tension between them was growing day by day.

Hermione bit her lip. She hoped that her next suggestion wouldn't startle him or make him question her intentions. "You know, I'm a bit too tired to go to a restaurant. How about we go to my place and I prepare something?"

Draco was a Malfoy, so he was very good at hiding his surprise, and surprised he was. "Alright, but what about your son? Has he come home yet?"

"He hasn't. He's at Harry's place, and is going to be there for quite some time."

"I see. Well, then, I have got nothing against it."

* * *

Hermione had prepared some beef in red wine mushroom sauce as quickly as possible, and in less than an hour, they were seated and eating.

"This is delicious," commented Draco, after taking a second bite.

Hermione blushed a bit and smiled. "Thank you. Actually, when I was much younger, I wasn't really great at cooking. It was only after the war, while staying with Andromeda, that I learned how to properly prepare meals with the aid of magic."

"I see. Well, as always, it seems that you have exceled at yet another thing you wanted to learn. Bookish, bookish Granger."

Hermione chuckled a little, but didn't reply.

Once they had more or less finished their meal, Hermione asked him if he wanted some soft-cheese tart. She had baked it in the morning, and had put it under a stasis charm, so it tasted as good as just-out-of-the-oven.

"Well, some tart with tea would be lovely," he replied.

As she stood up and was about to collect all the used dishes, he also rose from his seat.

"Do you need some help?"

Hermione grinned. "I am a witch, remember?" With a swish of her wand, the dirty plates and wine goblets had been quickly deposited in the sink and the charmed sponge, already with cleaning solution on it, started washing them.

Draco smirked, but didn't sit back on the chair. He left the dining area and sat on the sofa. He really liked her flat. When they had arrived, as she was preparing their dinner, he had explored the entire first floor of her house. Despite the minimalist design, the flat still had that 'homey' feeling about it, and the colours helped create a lovely entourage and atmosphere. He especially liked the soft blue and ivory that had been used. The dark brown, which seemed almost black, reminded him of a mountain inn he and Astoria had once stayed at. He shook his head, trying to clear it from depressive thoughts concerning his deceased wife.

As Hermione sat near him, he broke out of his reverie. She put the plates with the slices of tart on the table, followed by the teapot, two cups and a little milk jug. She poured the tea into the cups, asked him how he wanted his beverage, added a bit of milk per his preferences and they silently started indulging in their dessert.

"It's delightful, indeed," said Draco after he finished his tea.

Hermione's kind expression turned a bit amused. "I'm glad you liked it. The first time I had ever tried baking didn't turn out well."

"What happened?"

"I didn't mix the fruits with the right ingredients in the right proportion, so when I put the pie in the oven, the sauce kind of burst out of the pastry. At that time I was much too young to use magic at home, so I had to wash the oven the muggle way."

Draco sniggered. "I can't believe it, Granger doing something wrong. That's unheard of!"

Hermione, herself, started laughing, and she playfully bumped her shoulder against his. He wanted to retaliate, but she had been faster, and was already standing. Draco put the saucer with the cup on the table, and rose from the sofa. He menacingly slowly approached her, but his eyes were joyous. He enveloped her much smaller frame, and lifted her.

"Draco, put me down!" she squealed with laughter.

"And why should I do that, Ms Perfect Skills?"

"Because I said so. And we're too old for such behaviour."

Draco raised an incredulous eyebrow at her, but put her down nonetheless. "I'm a Malfoy, there's no such concept as being too old for me."

This time Hermione bumped her lower half of the body into his, but wasn't quick enough to leave before he caught her again. Their noses were inches apart, and the cheerful tone to their interaction turned alight with tension. She could feel his intense gaze on her lips and thought he was about to kiss them, when he suddenly let her go, his eyes looking somewhere else.

Draco took two steps back and turned his attention towards her, once more. "I apologise, but it is rather late. I think I should be going home."

Hermione, though she didn't want to admit it, was a bit disappointed. What she definitely knew was that she was also ashamed. She had divorced only about two months before, and wanting to be kissed by another man made her feel embarrassed by her desires. 'And this other man is a Malfoy, to boot.'

"Of course, I understand. Would you like to use the floo?"

Draco nodded. Hermione brought the floo-powder, as he summoned his cloak and black leather briefcase. As he was about to take some powder, Hermione briefly kissed him on the cheek and smiled. "I'll see you at work."

A bit perplexed on the inside, but completely composed on the outside, the blonde inclined his head. "Of course. Thank you for the superb meal. Have a nice weekend."

"Thank you. You, too. Sweet dreams, Draco."

"Goodbye, Hermione."

She looked at him with wide eyes and a flabbergasted expression, as he spoke his destination, 'Malfoy Manor.'

Once he disappeared, Hermione sat down on the nearby sofa, and looked at the ceiling, still dazed. It was the first time he had called her by her first name, and it was also for the first time that she had heard it being pronounced in such a sexy and sensuous manner.

"Goodbye," she whispered into the night.

* * *

**Explanation of some things that might be confusing:**

**1**. About the entire gathering thing. Well, the Weasley kids are very close to each other, and the age gap doesn't mean that much to them. And as they tend to see their friends as family as well, them wanting to spend their time all gathered in one place seems like a rather logical thing. I hope you agree.

**2**. Here you can see Hermione's living room – the quality isn't that good, sorry [delete the gaps]: [insert http] : / / modernhomedesigners . [insert com] / wp-content/uploads/2012/06/ Minimalist-Style-a-Black-Color-Sofa-and-Sky-Blue-Ornaments-at-modernhomedesigners. jpg  
Hermione's kitchen/dining area: [insert http] : / / www. pedantique . [insert com] / wp-content/uploads/2012/06/ minimalist-modern-kitchen-style-with-blue-wall. jpg

**A quick poll for entertainment purposes: **

_Which one of the following 1994-95 Triwizard Tournament task was your favourite? _

A) The first task – retrieving a golden egg guarded by a dragon  
B) The second task – retrieving something that has been stolen from depths of the Black lake  
C) The third task – navigating through a maze, in order to find the cup placed in the centre of it  
D) The unexpected task – the Yule Ball, and finding a partner for the dance.  
Let me know!

**My own answer to the previous poll: **My favourite DADA professor is Remus Lupin. His teaching methods are both useful and fun. I was fortunate enough to have had teachers like him at my school and university.

Please review!


	24. Of words on parchment

**Author's Notes:  
**  
I am so sorry that I can't update more than once per week. This week has been mind-numbingly busy. I've started studying musical theory (I will finally learn how to play bass guitar – my favourite instrument), reading manga _NANA_ for the n-th time (I am doing a timeline for 84 chapters – crazy, I know), and working a lot.

Well, here it is – the 23rd chapter. I was very sleepy, while proof-reading it, so I apologise for any possible grammatical errors. The chapter contains only letters. A reader said that he liked this style, so I gave it another try. It is also more sombre than other chapters. I hope you will like it.

Thank you so much for your support and reviews!

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no profit from this work of art. However, I do own the plot and some OCs. The image belongs to **charmontez**.

* * *

**Chapter 23. Of words on parchment**

_3 March 2019_

_Dear Draco,_

_I'm sure that once you'll have finished reading this letter, your arrogance will have increased to incredible volumes, for you've been right on all accounts. Just as you predicted, this week's Weasley brunch had been not only awkward, but also a complete disaster. _

_Initially, I had planned to stay at home, since both Fleur and Audrey said that they wouldn't celebrate their birthday with the entire family. And yet, Molly got upset, so they had to give in, and as a result, I had to attend the joint celebration. _

_Once I got there, I realised that I had made a mistake. The atmosphere was charged with tension and everybody was reluctant to talk. Harry had told me that Ronald had apologised to everybody at the previous brunch, and yet they still treated him with a bit of coldness. Molly and Arthur kept trying to 'entertain and engage' all of us in a discussion or another, but nothing worked. In the end, the gathering split into two groups, one around me and another one around Ronald. The latter mostly consisted of his brothers and Harry kept going back and forth from one side of the living room to the other one._

_The brunch itself was a horrific event. I could barely eat, not to mention smile and keep up with the topics discussed. As you already know, I've made peace with Ronald some time ago, mostly at Harry's insistence. However, I still don't feel comfortable in his presence, and I feel guilty for making his family feel the same way. I know that they want to support me, but by doing so they are indirectly leaving him on his own, and I don't want that. I know you call it a 'bleeding-heart Gryffindor' trait, and yet that's how I feel._

_But, worst of all was Hugo's behaviour. He politely answered Ronald's questions about his wellbeing and activities, but there was no warmth in his answers. The poor boy must have felt all the tension in the house, for he kept holding onto Lily. Even with me he was awkward. I'm lost. I've no idea how to make things better. I don't want my son to suffer because of his parents. Am I a bad mother for thinking about my own happiness before my children's? Should I have not divorced or at least waited a bit more before finalising it? What should I do, Draco?_

_I apologise for my rambling. I usually go to Harry when I feel down, but I'm afraid he's got too much on his plate as it is. He must be rather fed up with my whining and troubles. And the only other person, to whom I can go to with such personal matters, is you. Who would have thought that you'd become my confident, eh, Draco?_

_I'll be waiting for your sarcastic and cruelly realistic reply. You know, your way of seeing this world is sometimes much better than mine. I invest too many emotions and feelings in everything I do, and though I usually see this as a good thing, at times like these I regret it. Sometimes, I wish I had this cynical and detached perception, as well._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Hermione Granger_

_P.S. The reservation at the restaurant is made for Wednesday, at 7 pm._

* * *

_4 March 2019_

_Dear Hermione 'I like overthinking everything' Granger,_

_Stop fussing. I'm sure you're working as you're reading this letter, thus, please, put everything aside and slowly breathe in and out. A divorce is not the end of the world. Your stupid ex-husband is neither dead nor incapable of taking care of his own relationship with his family. You are not his nanny, hence there is no need for you to think about his personal life. I know what you are already thinking – he's the father of your children – yet, that hadn't deterred him from cheating on you._

_You had all the rights in the world to divorce that Weasel, so do not castigate yourself for divorcing a cheater. I'm sure your children understand this, and if they don't at the moment, they certainly will in a couple of years. Moreover, I do not see how you of all the women on Earth are a bad mother. Sincerely, I do not. You are anything but. And yes, I am aware that I am complimenting you. For somebody, who has achieved so much in such a short time, you surely lack in the self-confidence department. _

_Furthermore, I do not take any pleasure in knowing that you have been miserable, when surrounded by your family. Something tells me that you'll keep avoiding the Weasley brunches, and the awkward atmosphere present at the Sunday gatherings. Therefore, as a true gentleman, I will come to your rescue. I suggest we spend the Sunday mornings in each other's company. You will be able to refuse the invitations with a clean conscience. I have inherited some lands in Bedfordshire from a distant relative, and there is a rather beautiful Lodge with two stables. Are you fond of horses? If so, there are six thoroughbred horses at our disposal._

_I will see you on Wednesday, for my current project is keeping me rather busy and I will not able to visit you until then. We will talk about your emotional distress during our meal or after, per your preference._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Draco Malfoy_

* * *

_16 March 2019_

_Dear Mr Malfoy,_

_Thank you for your quick reply. I'm relieved that the financial aspect of the event has already been taken care of. On the same note, there have been some minor changes in the number of those attending. Instead of the original 43, there will be 48 participants. Though, those that have already graduated from the school will most likely be there for about a day, possibly less. Most of them are apprentices and employees, so they can't stay there for long. They will also serve as supervisors._

_As we have decided previously, I have contacted the parents of some students who will attend the party at your house. 12 of them, including yourself and your mother, will be present at the 'Gathering'. I am most pleased to add, that a supervising schedule has already been created, and it is attached to this letter. Also attached, you will find the list of those 48 attendees. _

_During Easter holidays, specifically on 26 April, we will be able to go through all the activities to be held, and if possible, I would like to see for myself which areas of the Manor will be at our disposal. Such details, like a menu, sleeping and travelling arrangements can also be briefly discussed on that day. The final decisions will be most likely made during summer._

_I am very grateful for your full co-operation._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Dominique Weasley_

* * *

_19 March 2019_

_Dear mum,_

_First, I want to thank you for sending me Lizzy and Tristan's gifts. I can't believe I had forgotten them at home. Perhaps, because of our moving into a new flat, it had slipped my mind._

_Second, I have been thinking about this a lot, and after talking to my friends and Al, I decided to talk to dad. However, I do not know whether to simply write to him, like he had until now, or simply wait until Easter. What do you think is better?_

_School, like always, has been keeping us rather occupied, and Al and the boys haven't had enough time to cause much trouble, though the same can't be said about James, Fred and Paul. The Headmistress is so distressed, that there are even some rumours that she wants to resign. That would be very unfortunate, for I respect her very much and would have wished for her to keep on guiding us with her wise words and rule the school with an iron fist. _

_I have already begun revising for my end of the year exams. The most challenging, so far, have been Potions and Transfiguration. I do keep up with the curriculum requirements, and I even excel in some subjects, and yet, I feel like I could accomplish so much more. Is it Tristan's lackadaisical arrogance that is rubbing off on me? I wonder… _

_Speaking of Tristan, as I have told you before, he's a Chaser for my house, and at the last Quidditch match he had made seven goals, impressive for a new player, is it not? He and Scorpius keep on comparing how many goals each of them had made. Rather childish, do you not agree? Poor Al can't do that, being a Seeker. Sometimes, I think that he feels left out. Next year is going to be more interesting, for Ambrose intends on joining the Slytherin team as a Keeper. Oh well, time will show._

_Say hi for me to Hugo, Lily, Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny. I miss you._

_With love,_

_Rose_

* * *

_24 March 2019_

_My darling Rosie,_

_I am sorry for replying so late. I have had a very busy week at work. There are some changes to be made in the administration of the Minstry. As a Head I've got lots of meetings to attend, and decisions to take. With age and position, one's responsibilities just keep on adding. Enjoy being a child while you can. _

_Do not worry about forgetting the gifts at home. If you have got anything else left, I will send it to you. It is no problem. Concerning you talking to your father, I think that the best option is to reply to the letters he had sent you. _

_I am pleased to hear that you're taking your studies seriously and consciously prepare for your exams. The challenges presented in your curriculum are there to stimulate the further deepening of your knowledge and capabilities. As the Headmistress has informed me, you are an excellent student and your Potions and Transfiguration teachers are very pleased with your academic performance and achievements. I am proud of you, love. _

_Madam McGonagall has also told me that she indeed is thinking about retiring. She has dedicated her life to Hogwarts, and I think that her leaving her post is both understandable and saddening. Whoever becomes the next Headmaster will definitely be as good a Leader as she is. I have been rather attached to my own Headmaster, though not as much as Harry, so I understand your feelings._

_As for Tristan and Scorpius' childish behaviour, well, they are boys and boys are prone to competing at mostly everything they do. Though, the same can be said about girls. I think it mostly depends on the individuals involved. Anyway, true rivalry will appear a bit later, when all of you will be about 14-15 years old. _

_We miss you, too. I can't wait for you to come home. It is going to be on 20 April, is it not?_

_With love,_

_Your mum_

* * *

_30 March 2019_

_Dear Dominique Weasley,_

_Thank you for contacting all the parents. As I have been very busy, it took me a while to contact all the supervisors you have included in the list. They have all confirmed their attendance at the event, as well as the days they would be at the Manor. The addition of other students is not a problem as long as I am informed of the changes made._

_As for the visit you would be making to my home, would you like to come for dinner with your sister and my nephew? Ted has already accepted. Dinner would be served at 6 pm, so we could make a tour through the Manor and its grounds before the meal, and after – we could go over all the points you have written in your letter._

_I would also like to express my feelings of gratitude for arranging so many things on your own. I am sure this event will be much appreciated and enjoyed by all the parties involved._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Draco Malfoy_

* * *

_6 April 2019_

_Dear father,_

_For days I have been dwelling on how to start this letter, and yet, no sensible ideas have come to mind. As per some advices from close friends, I have decided to write to you exactly what I feel._

_I am disappointed. That is not saying much, but that is the only feeling I recognise and, thus far, understand. I cannot tell you exactly why I am disappointed, and whether it's directed only towards you or the situation in general. I hope you won't take offence in my vagueness. _

_You asked me, in those two letters you had sent to me, how I was doing. Overall, I am alright. I am studying most of the time, and enjoying my free time either reading a good book or in the company of my friends. I also like cheering for Al, Scorpius and Tristan from the stands during their practice sessions or Quidditch matches. Mum said she liked doing the same for uncle Harry and you. However, I have got other close friends that are just as enthusiastic to watch them with me._

_And how are you doing? I have heard that you are living somewhere else, now. What is the new place like? Do you like it?_

_Kind regards,_

_Rose_

* * *

_7 April 2019_

_Dear Rosie,_

_I am so happy you have written to me. I am glad that you have decided to include your true feelings about this all. Your opinion is very important to me._

_I do understand why you are disappointed. And honestly speaking, I am disappointed myself. I very much regret what I have done, especially now that I realise the toll it has taken on our family. I hope that one day you'll find it in your heart to forgive me for my mistakes and the sorrow I have brought to all of us._

_There's been a lot of media fuss around our divorce; I hope that you haven't been molested by any nosy or gossip-loving students. Knowing that you've got lots of supportive friends and relatives at the school is reassuring and yet, I am still very concerned about your welfare. If you are teased by others, please do tell me, or at least your mother, so we could do something about it. I won't let anybody further hurt my little girl._

_As for my new place, it's a flat. Rather comfortable. It has got a medium-sized living/dining room, a small kitchen and three bedrooms, two of which are for you and your brother, if you'd want to visit me and stay for the night. _

_I hope that you're enjoying your stay at Hogwarts. I will be waiting for your reply. I miss you._

_With love,_

_Your dad_

* * *

_10 April 2019_

_Dear Grandfather,_

_Why are humans such hypocrites? I cannot believe to what lows some fall. People say that they don't want others to hurt their loved ones, and yet they are the ones to cause the most damage. Are people so full of pride that they can't see their own mistakes? Has the same happened to you during the war? When do people realise that they have been wrong? When do they admit that they have been wrong?_

_Last night, while reading a letter a friend of mine has given me to look over, I understood that it was time to let go of the bitter feelings I have had inside. Mother might have been selfish from a point of view, and yet she has also been very dedicated. I will never again blame her for wanting to feel the happiness of being a mother to another child. I have forgiven her. I hope that wherever she is, she is happy surrounded by my unborn brothers and sisters. _

_I apologise for my pessimistic thoughts, but sometimes they wouldn't stop plaguing my mind till I put them on paper. I must confess that I feel comfortable with sharing them only with you and Albus. However, there are some things that he couldn't understand, even if he tried. I am grateful for your support._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy_

* * *

_12 April 2019_

_Dear Scorpius,_

_Humans, both wizards and muggles alike, are weak creatures. Driven by either feelings or inner desires, we all are susceptible to making mistakes. Some of us are more proud than others, hence the graveness of our wrong doing differs from a case to another._

_I cannot judge others, for I have made mistakes after mistakes and have taken a lot of incorrect decisions. I may not show it to others, but I have promised myself that with you I will be completely honest. Unfortunately, you still have to pay for bearing the name of Malfoy. Even nowadays, 20 years after the war, the repercussions of what I have done both against the Wizarding World and to my own family are haunting me. _

_I have been born in a wealthy family, just like your father and yourself. I have been indoctrinated with pureblood beliefs, which I have unfortunately bestowed upon Draco. I grew up arrogant because in the first place I was a wizard, in the second – a pureblood, in the third – a Malfoy. I grew up proud for all the wrong reasons. Being a wizard is a blessing, and yet I took it for granted. Being a pureblood is fortunate, for one gets to grow up surrounded by magic and usually the family has got a rich history, family rituals and traditions, and yet I saw it as a reason to feel superior to others, look down upon them. Being a Malfoy might have once meant being among highly distinguished and outstanding wizards, who had helped delve deeper into the secrets of magic, and yet, I didn't see that. What I saw was a wealthy family, with lots of connections and arrogance that could reach the sky and beyond. _

_I could have been as good as blind. When one gets more aware of his own self-worth than of his family, friends and society, in general, he becomes too self-absorbed, too overbearing and presumptuous. As time passes, the familial warmth disappears, leaving in its place just coldness and pretentious conversations during meals. Arrogance turns even a genius into a fool._

_You cannot begin to comprehend how much I regret hurting your grandmother and father. Even your mother had to suffer because of my disastrous reputation. A part of the inheritance our ancestor, Armand Malfoy, had left to us, had to be spent on covering for my mistakes. Narcissa was the one to save us, in the end. She was the one who supported me. I am unable to put into words how hard it had been after the war. It had left me in ruins, though not financially speaking. In such a relatively small world, as the wizarding one, reputation means a lot, and mine was crushed._

_Although, my stay in Azkaban had been pure torture, I am grateful to it. Ten years of not seeing anything but darkness, made me long for illumination and for warmth. Once I had left it, knowing that there was still a place for me in this house made me relish all the little, until then, insignificant things. _

_Your appearance in my life has been like a breath of fresh air. I am happy you have forgiven your mother. Astoria deeply cared for you, and I will be eternally grateful to her for making my son happy during those hard times, after the war, and giving birth to you. _

_I do not know who specifically behaved like a hypocrite, and yet I will tell you one thing: do not judge. I have seen enough in my life and certainly know that nothing is like what it appears to be. True colours are always hidden underneath. Perhaps he or she had been lost, and now that they have seen the light, the need to protect their beloved from further harm is even more acute. If there is something I know about this world and human nature is that people tend to appreciate what they have got only after losing it. _

_Enjoy your time spent surrounded by friends, and thoroughly study for your exams. You are a child; make hay while the sun shines._

_Unfortunately, I won't be able to see you during your Easter holidays, for I leave on an extensive business trip through Asia, tomorrow. Neither will I be able to communicate with your through letters. Once I come back, I will let you know._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Lucius Abraxas Malfoy_

* * *

**Explanation of some things that might be confusing:**

**1**. _Thoroughbred_ is a specific breed of horse, while a "purebred" is a horse (or any other animal) with a defined pedigree recognized by a breed registry.

**2**. The information about the Malfoy upbringing (the bit about Armand Malfoy, too) is mostly canon, taken from the new chapters posted on Pottermore (only Slytherins have access to the first 4 chapters of the 2nd book). You can also check the information on Harry Potter Wikipedia. It is also mentioned that the Malfoys have had business partnerships with muggles, thus do not be surprised if/when I include it in my story.

**A quick poll for entertainment purposes:**

_Which one of the following HP actresses (attention, not characters!) is your favourite? _

A) Emma Watson (playing Hermione Granger)  
B) Evanna Lynch (playing Luna Lovegood)  
C) Helena Bonham Carter (playing Belatrix Lestrange)  
D) Other. Let me know!

**My own answer to the previous poll: **My favourite 1994-95 Triwizard Tournament task was the first one. Both the book and film versions have been very entertaining and I can't have enough of the Hermione/Harry hug before the task. ^_^

Please review!


	25. Chapter 25

**Author's Note:**

Hello, everybody! My deepest apologies for not having done this earlier. You deserve an explanation for my extended absence from . I've got both good and bad news.

The bad news: around mid-August I lost my muse. Completely lost it, like in a heavy and thick fog. And afterwards, I got busy with my university and my job. Not to mention, it has been a challenging year for me, I was constantly worried, no wonder my muse wouldn't return.

The good news: in about a month, I will have finished my academic year, and I'll have the time to write again. I miss writing, so I'm quite sure by the time I do start writing, my muse would be back.

Again, my deepest apologies for not having addressed this matter until now.

Kind regards,  
Nicky


End file.
